Saskatoon police freeze wages, find other savings worth $1M

The City of Saskatoon is asking the police service to shrink its budget by about $1 million due to shortfalls in funding from the provincial government.

Most of that $714,000will come from a freeze on wage increases for all city employees, said Saskatoon Police Service ChiefCliveWeighill.

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"We're just doing our part," he said.

"The city has asked us to claw these savings back out of our budget and we've done so."

Weighillsaid the budget reduction won't affect front-line services.

The budget was on the agenda Thursday at a meeting of theboard of police commissioners. The police service's overall budget is about $96 million.

Another$250,000 in savings will come via the reduced power and heating needs at the police service's new energy-efficientheadquarters.

Police are alsoexpected to save $31,000 on gassing up vehicles thanks to lower fuel prices.

The union representing Saskatoon's police officers could not immediately be reached for comment.