County calls special meeting on OPP costs

Obscenely high and unsustainable policing costs. OPP bills are destroying communities its officers are supposed to protect. Apparent self-interest is cloaked in the guise of public safety needs. Where is the political outrage while OPP costs continue to climb? Who is going to bring policing costs in this province under control?

County calls special meeting on OPP costs

Postby Thomas » Fri Jan 24, 2014 6:26 am

Haliburton County councillors will hold a special meeting in February to plan ways to deal with the impending increase in policing costs.

A new funding formula for the OPP set to come into effect in 2015 and which strives to equalize policing costs throughout the province would be a massive hit to the pocketbooks of the county's four lower-tier townships.

In Highlands East, policing costs would increase from $134 per household to the standard $369 per household.

In Dysart et al, costs would jump from $144 per household to $369, equating to an annual increase of $1.6 million for the township.

The formula would essentially double policing costs for Minden Hills, with an annual increase of $1.1 million.

In Algonquin Highlands, the price of police would more than double from about $350,000 a year to approximately $800,000 per annum.

“There's the short term and there's the long term,” county chief administrative officer Jim Wilson told county councillors during their Jan. 22 meeting.

In the short term, the CAO said municipalities need to be examining the new costing model and how it is being rolled out.

In the long term, they need to look at the sustainability of policing and answer some fundamental, philosophic questions about the role of police.

“When it gets down to it, what is it that policing should be doing?” Wilson asked. “There's a lot of things that need to be looked at down the road. Costs are going to rise over time.”

Wilson even suggested that municipal governments should perhaps be looking to models used in other countries for ideas.

While the new funding formula would mean a drastic increase in costs for the townships of Haliburton County, other municipalities would actually see a price drop.

In Bancroft, for example, per household costs are set to come down from more than $600.

“There are winners and losers,” Wilson said.

According to Dysart deputy-reeve Bill Davis, there are 75 municipalities in the province whose policing costs will drop as a result of the new formula.

There is no uniform position for municipalities to take to the province.

“So, divide and conquer,” said Algonquin Highlands Reeve Carol Moffatt. “What are we as the county going to do about this?”

While policing is a lower-tier responsibility, councillors seemed to agree the county should be taking a unified approach with its case and Moffatt suggested it should be dovetailing with the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and any other groups that might be advocating the cause.

“I for one don't want to put Minden Hills at the mercy of the divide and conquer scenario that is inevitable,” said Minden Hills Reeve Barb Reid.

In past discussions, Reid has suggested using the section of the Ontario Police Services Act that allows municipalities to look at alternative policing methods.

“The immediate issue is the cost that is going to be put on our tax bills in 2015,” said Dysart et al Reeve Murray Fearrey. “I think it's very political and I think we need to put the numbers together.”

Fearrey suggested there should be a difference in the rates charged for permanent and seasonal residents and that, with a provincial election likely this year, councillors should be taking their questions on the issue to candidates' meetings.

Reid thought it was important for cost comparisons to be done and for the county to have options to showcase so the OPP realize they're not the only game in town.

The special meeting is scheduled for Feb. 5.

http://www.haliburtonecho.ca/2014/01/23 ... -opp-costs
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