Sarnia's mayor is calling for "an intervention" to allow a mayor and council to reduce or amend police service budgets.
Mike Bradley emailed a letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Thursday afternoon to express concern about the current limits in place.
"We had limited control before but it is a very dangerous path to go down where one group in a community can say, 'give us whatever we want,' and you cannot do anything about it," Bradley said in an interview with Sarnia News Today.
He used Strong Mayor Powers to cut funding from the 2026 budget that would have supported a new police headquarters. However, it was later unveiled in a letter from the Office of the Solicitor General that strong mayor powers do not give the ability to limit police board budget increases or veto estimates.
As such, the Sarnia Police Service Board issued a legal notice.
"This creates a clear imbalance in accountability, where elected leadership bears responsibility for budget outcomes without the ability to manage risk, respond to local conditions, or ensure alignment with broader municipal priorities," read Bradley's letter.
The email was copied to other mayors across the province as well.
"I can believe from past comments and conversations that they're concerned about this too," Bradley said. "We're not asking to intervene all the time on police budgets but we need the right to bring discipline."
Bradley said the public doesn't support an expensive new police facility and estimated it could cost upwards of $120 million.
Sarnia Police Service Board Chair Kelly Ash confirmed to Sarnia News Today that the preliminary cost for a new facility is still estimated at $91 million. However, the estimate is still in the early stages as the actual design phase has not started.
"I've said from day one, this is going to be at least $100 million and then if you put in interest rates -- we'd have to borrow the money, it keeps on building," Bradley said. "So the estimate I'm using these days is $120 million."
Although an amendment was made during budget deliberations to put $5 million toward the police service's capital budget, Bradley said he vetoed it because it would have impacted taxpayers.
"The $5 million ask was simply to start a process that would cost the taxpayers $120 million, in my view, over time," he said. "That means perpetual annual tax increases. Instead of trying to do what most of us do in our own lives, you work with what you've got and what you can afford to do."
Bradley said at this point, he's not taking any action regarding the legal notice and defends his budget, which did not impact the police service's operating budget.
In his letter to Ford, Bradley asked for the matter to be addressed before a new municipal council takes office in the fall.
