Investigators locked in a four-week manhunt for alleged police killer Dezi Freeman could soon face the prospect of "drawing a line in the sand" as resource restraints and costs pile up.
Freeman, also known as Desmond Filby, allegedly fatally shot Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart at Porepunkah on August 26.
The 56-year-old has been on the run since, fleeing into dense bushland from the town about 300km northeast of Melbourne.
Backed up by interstate crews, about 450 police personnel have packed the town of about 1000 residents, scouring harsh and challenging bushland, caves, mineshafts, huts and properties, by air and land, in the hope of finding the alleged culprit.
A month on, as the manhunt continues with yet no confirmed sighting of the trained bush survivalist, police must balance the search with budgetary constraints.
There comes a point when management must consider the hard decision to withdraw, retired Victoria Police detective senior sergeant Charlie Bezzina said.
Police resourcing for travel, accommodation and meals of officers re-directed from other teams to Porepunkah, and the cost of operating equipment has put a huge dent in the force's bottom line.
"It's well within the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not, by the time this is completed, may well be into the millions, and that's got a major impact on the police operating budget," he told AAP.
"It just cannot go on for infinitum. It has to have a line in the sand somewhere."
That point could arrive as the weather warms up and the risks for personnel increase, Mr Bezzina said.
"That might be the pinnacle, when the summer actually hits, of having that particular decision making of when do we stop our policing resources for the sheer welfare of our people," he said.
"You can't have our specialist people in that bush in 35 to 38 degree heat."
The retired detective said uniformed officers would be first released in a gradual scale-down of operations, leaving specialist detectives on the case.
"Will they keep a police presence in Porepunkah? I think the time will come and the answer will be no," he said.
With the police operating budget already surpassing $10 million for pro-Palestine demonstrations in Melbourne, Mr Bezzina said the added blow from the Freeman search had put costs under significant pressure.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines has reaffirmed the force had licence to deploy any and all resources to bring the offender to justice and the government would support that.
Victoria Police have offered a $1 million reward and the possibility of indemnity for information leading to the capture of Freeman, the largest financial offer in the state's history for facilitating an arrest.
Local businesses have pleaded for visitors to return to the region after travel restrictions were reduced for Porepunkah and nearby towns three weeks into the search, but Mount Buffalo National Park remains closed.
Businesses that lost money during the search became eligible for $5000 grants, as many missed out on a bumper snow season as the final stops for snow seekers en route to Mount Hotham and Falls Creek snow resorts.
