Renfrew County wants OPP billing scrapped

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?

Renfrew County wants OPP billing scrapped

Postby Thomas » Sat Mar 01, 2014 7:07 am

PEMBROKE - Declaring it fundamentally flawed, Renfrew County council called on the province Thursday to scrap the proposed billing model for the Ontario Provincial Police.

The planned billing formula, which will be initiated this summer for renew contracts going into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, has been causing no shortage of anxiety for municipalities that will see policing costs skyrocket overnight.

The provincial force currently provides policing services on a cost-recovery basis to 324 municipalities - 153 on contract and 171 on a non-contract basis. The new methodology would charge each municipality a flat $260 household fee for the base costs related to policing, plus a variable charge for each call for service in that municipality.

The OPP has estimated that the average cost per household for policing would be $369. This is a considerable change from the current cost-recovery model that has been in use for the past 15 yeas. Under that model, municipalities were charged based on percentage of detachment workload, actual detachment staffing levels, wages and benefits.

"This model is fundamentally flawed, unfair and inequitable," exclaimed Admaston/Bromley Mayor Raye-Anne Briscoe, chairwoman of the finance and administration committee, as she presented a resolution for council's consideration adding Premier Kathleen Wynne should come up with a new formula that is equitable to all small, rural municipalities. "Premier Wynne cannot allow this type of unfair treatment towards rural Ontario."

Briscoe slammed the billing model as a blanket solution for all municipalities, however, she added just because Toronto needs more policing, doesn't mean that the same model should apply for rural areas like Renfrew County.

If the proposed model is adapted, those municipalities currently paying less than $300 per household will generally see an increase, while those paying higher than $400 will see these costs drop. That's the dilemma facing many municipalities such as Greater Madawaska. It will experience an 192 per cent increase in policing costs. Under 2013 numbers, that equates to policing going from $312,094 to $911,430.

"The model, as proposed, is unfair," said County Warden Peter Emon, who is also the mayor of Greater Madawaska. "It's hoisting a series of costs on us at the lower tier and we just don't have the funding for it. The new model removes commercial and industrial from the billing model. It's solely based on households."

Not all councillors agreed with scrapping the model and starting over. Voting against the resolution, Arnprior Reeve Walter Stack contended policing should be uploaded to the province but he doubts it will be because of the deficit the province faces. He added he's anxious to see the contract negotiations continue as his municipality seeks a better agreement. Arnprior currently pays $2 million a year for policing.

Renfrew Reeve Audrey Green also voted down the resolution saying all sides need to keep talking because there are too many unknowns at this point. However, she agreed that the time has come for municipalities to stop paying through the nose for policing.

Emon added recent statistics have shown crime is down in rural Ontario therefore policing should meet the needs of individual communities.

Sean Chase is a Daily Observer multimedia journalist

sean.chase@sunmedia.ca

http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/2014/02/ ... g-scrapped
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