Denied $4 million of their $397-million budget request last month — and insisting that money is needed to hire five officers and one civilian — London police have decided to go back to city council to try again.

The move is a last-ditch attempt by police to convince politicians to give them the entire four-year budget they want before appealing to a provincial body.

But though police insist they need those six additional employees and warn crime prevention programs and even the volunteer auxiliary police program could be in jeopardy if they aren’t hired, Mayor Matt Brown appeared to stand firm after Thursday’s police services board meeting.

“Council was very clear in terms of the funding envelope that was approved during the budget deliberation,” said Brown, who is one of two council members on the police board. “We are able to set the funding envelope that’s available to fund this board, just like any other board or commission but what positions are deployed, what priorities are set, that is a responsibility of the chief in consultation with his London police services board.”

Despite his stance, Brown did support a motion put forward at Thursday’s police board meeting by budget chair Paul Paolatto that the police board make a presentation to city council.

“We are always open to continuing conversations. We’ll receive their delegation and debate from there,” said Brown.

If council doesn’t change its position and approve the entire request of $397 million for 2016 to 2019 (this year’s budget would be $97.3 million), the board and brass made it clear they’re prepared to appeal to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission.

“The six new positions identified for 2016 were high-priority needs . . . We’ll need to look internally to find resources to meet those needs. Unfortunately tough decisions would have to be made in terms of programs and services,” said Chief John Pare, when asked by Paolatto what effect the reduction of $900,000 in 2016 would have on the force. (City council cut $4 million from the police budget request for 2016 to 2019.)

Immediately, the $900,000 cut would prevent the chief for adding six employees — two officers in human trafficking, two in foot patrol, one in use-of-force training and a civilian in court services, Pare said.

He has said the force needs to hire 13 employees, but councillors have agreed to fund seven of those positions using what’s called assessment growth (tax revenue tied to the city’s growth).

In a report presented to the board Thursday, police said that without the remaining six employees, several programs — including crime prevention and school safety officers — would be affected and the auxiliary program would have to be cancelled. But pressed later, Pare said he did not intend to cut the auxiliary program, only that it and others are in jeopardy.

Auxillary officers, who are volunteers that receive training, represent the force at public events such as parades and help search for missing persons. There are about 50 auxiliary officers on the force.

The police services board decided to ask to make a presentation to city council after hearing from a lawyer who explained the process and cost of making an appeal to the provincial commission.

Paolatto said he wanted to exhaust every option before appealing.

But asked if council was concerned after hearing from police brass about the potential cuts to service if the force doesn’t get the additional six employees, Brown said police are responsible for deciding which services and programs are necessary to keep London safe.

“One of the most difficult things about setting priorities as a community, as an organization is deciding what not to focus on,” he said. “We need to make sure the public is safe, and those safety levels continue to exist. There will be difficult decisions that need to be made. There have been no decisions made at this time. The council can’t determine where the chief would like to make service changes, that’s entirely up to him in consultation with his board.”

The London police operating budget is the largest chunk of the city’s $1 billion budget — making up roughly 10 per cent, or nearly $100 million.

jlobrien@postmedia.com

twitter.com/obrienatlfpres

2016-2019 police budget

Requested: $397.2 million

Adopted: $393.1 million

Reduction: $4.1 million

The budget as approved by council so far:

2016: $96.3 million

2017: $97.4 million

2018: $99.2 million

2019: $100.2 million

Total: $393.1 million