THE ORANGEVILLE Police Service, which had a habit of being in the “bad news” department, whether it be the latest crime or another disciplinary hearing, had some really good news this week, in the form of a 2016 budget that has no increase for taxpayers.

No doubt much of the credit goes to Police Chief Wayne Kalinsky, who has gone to great lengths to improve relations between the police service and the community it serves, and by building morale in the force has no doubt made it easier to keep salaries within a range that avoids the need for tax increases.

Rightly or wrongly, we suspect one reason the service has been able to come up with the “zero increase” budget is that it isn’t facing the huge costs in legal bills and overtime payments that were the order of the day when as many as four officers were suspended with full pay while facing charges under the Police Act.

The zero increase is all the more significant when one considers the fact that unlike school boards, which can offset pay raises by reducing staffs in response to falling enrolments, the need for law enforcement personnel is always rising with population growth.

Now if only the Town’s other services can come up with similar budgeting results!