Burnaby council was relieved to hear it will receive $2.9 million in 2013 from its share of traffic fine revenue from the province instead of $448,541 - a prospect that concerned councillors when it was suggested at a previous meeting.
At the March 18 meeting, Coun. Colleen Jordan said she was nervous about a potential dip in the share of the province's traffic fine revenue, which goes towards the police budget and is usually closer to $3 million, after receiving a letter from MLA Bill Bennett that stated the city would receive the much lower amount.
Council received a finance report at the April 8 meeting, where staff outlined the provincial grant from the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development is to help municipalities cover safety costs. The funding is a return of net revenues from traffic violations and is meant to fund police budgets.
In 2012, the city received $3,838,656 in cash payments from the traffic fine revenue grant.
This year, the city is expecting to receive $2,964,735 from the annual operating grant funding, according to the report.
Next year, the report states it will receive about $1,762,627 by June 2014.
Each year, the city has had to publicly report on how the shared grant was used.
Jordan said the confusion stemmed from the province's restructuring of the program, and she's glad the city isn't being "short changed."
The current funding agreement between the province and Burnaby expires in June 2014. Jordan said it will most likely be renewed after that.
All of the funding goes to the police operating budget, according to the report.
"These funds help to reduce the impact on property taxes, which are the main source of funding for Burnaby police operations," the report stated.
The report also provided council with information on the recent activities of the Burnaby detachment.
Total city break-and-enters were at their lowest in 2012, and for the first time in 25 years Burnaby experienced a full year without a single motor vehicle fatality, the report stated.
Impaired driving investigations increased from 202 in 2010 to 511 in 2011.
Last year, the Burnaby detachment created a two-person unsolved homicide unit that solved a historical homicide in its first few months and resulted in charges.
