Province releases details on new OPP billing model

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?

Province releases details on new OPP billing model

Postby Thomas » Fri Aug 15, 2014 5:34 am

ONTARIO - More than half of Ontario municipalities policed by the OPP can expect to see their policing costs rise under the new billing model, according to new details released by the province.

The new model coming into effect Jan. 1, 2015 is changing how municipalities will be billed for policing services.

Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Yasir Naqvi and Insp. Bert McDonald with the OPP’s Municipal Policing Bureau provided an overview of the new model today (Aug. 14).

Municipalities will no longer be billed per household and will instead be charged per property, which puts commercial properties on the hook for policing costs.

The new model is also split into two categories — base costs, which makes up 60 per cent of the bill, and calls for service, making up 40 per cent.

Base costs cover crime prevention, proactive policing, officer training and administrative duties. It will be charged equally across the province, with an estimated 2015 cost of $203 per property. Calls for service, meanwhile, will vary in each municipality.

Of the 324 municipalities serviced by the OPP, the province expects 207 will see an increase of $100 or less per property and 115 will see a decrease of about $75 per property.

Naqvi said the province, through consultations with the OPP and municipalities, worked for the past two years to create the new system built around the recommendations made by the auditor general’s report in 2012.

“We’ve worked very hard with our municipal and policing partners to develop the new model,” he said. “It is a fair approach, it is an equitable approach and it is transparent and responsible approach.”

He said the new model is guided by three principles – ensuring municipalities pay their fair share, making current policing costs equally distributed, and making policing bills easier to understand.

He said the old system, created in 1998, is too complex, difficult to administer and does not provide municipalities with the information to control their policing costs.

For municipalities facing an increase, he said the cost will be capped and phased in over five years at $40 per property, and those looking at decreases will start at $18 in year one, and increase to $96 by year five.

“This will provide both stability and predictability to taxpayers and municipalities,” he added.

Naqvi said municipalities wanted businesses to start paying for policing out of fairness.

“The addition of commercial and industrial properties to the allocation of base costs was the result of feedback we received to ensure the new model more equitably distributes costs,” he said.

McDonald said the new model outlines all the costs, which should allow municipalities to spend their money more wisely.

To come up with the billing model’s costing split, he said the OPP looked at four year’s worth of historical police work to see where officers are spending their time.

For calls for service, he said municipalities will be charged based on their four-year average.

McDonald said calls for service include assaults, break and enters, drug offences, mental health and trespassing complaints, landlord tenant disputes, motor vehicle collisions and general calls for service.

Like the old system, the new billing model is revenue neutral.

“No additional money will come to the province because of this change,” Naqvi said. “The new model simply redistributes the cost amongst municipalities in a way that is more fair and equitable.”

The province and the OPP plan provide individual costing details to municipalities sometime this fall.

http://www.simcoe.com/news-story/476056 ... ing-model/
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OPP costs to go up in most municipalities

Postby Thomas » Fri Aug 15, 2014 5:35 am

TORONTO - Most municipalities that pay Ontario Provincial Police for local law enforcement will see their policing costs go up over the next five years, the governing Liberals said Thursday.

The OPP is introducing a new billing model that the government said will simplify, clarify and more evenly distribute costs among municipalities, who are concerned about having to hike property taxes to pay rising policing costs.

Community Safety Minister Yasir Naqvi said the new model, which would separate base costs and service call costs, won't increase the amount of money the OPP recovers from municipalities. But it will change how much those communities are paying for OPP services, which have varied widely throughout the province.

Some municipalities are paying less than $10 a year per household, while other similar communities are paying over $800 per year, he said.

Ontario's auditor general criticized those discrepancies in the 2012 annual report, also noting that while crime rates have gone down, policing expenditures have gone up.

Of the 324 municipalities who rely on OPP services, 207 will see an average increase of about $83 per property, which will include business and industrial properties as well as households, while 115 communities will see their cost decrease by about $70 per property.

The changes will be phased in over five years, starting in January, with annual increases capped at $40 per property, Naqvi said. Decreases will start at $18 and reach $98 in the final year.

"This will provide stability and predictability for both taxpayers and municipalities," he said.

The bill will be split 60-40 between base costs — which includes routine patrols, crime prevention, local detachments, officer training and administrative duties — and calls for service, such as a car accident.

Municipalities are not charged for provincial duties those same officers may perform, such as patrolling provincial highways and waterways, said OPP Insp. Bert McDonald of the Municipal Policing Bureau. They're also compensated when officers are called out to major events, like the devastating Goderich tornado or the upcoming 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Games.

Naqvi said all municipalities will end up paying the same amount — about $203 per property — to cover base costs. Communities will also get "very detailed" reports on the type and volume of service calls.

The new model may clarify policing costs, but it does nothing to contain them, which is a big concern for many towns and cities, said Pat Vanini of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.

According to the OPP, salary, benefits and overtime account for about 85 per cent of the bill it sends to municipalities.

"I don't know any municipal government where policing costs isn't the highest portion of the tax bill," Vanini said. "It's in Toronto, even where municipal forces are."

The OPP received an 8.5 per cent wage hike this year after a two-year pay freeze, having signed a contract with the province that guarantees they'll be the highest paid cops in Ontario.

The cash-strapped Liberals have said for several years that there's no new money for salary increases as they struggle to slay a multibillion-dollar deficit. But critics remain skeptical, saying the hefty pay hike proves it's just lip service.

Naqvi insisted Thursday that there's no new money for pay hikes, but wouldn't say whether the Liberals' commitment to make the OPP the top paid police in the province would be withdrawn in their next round of negotiations with the Ontario Provincial Police Association.

The Progressive Conservatives questioned the "eleventh hour" timing of his announcement, just a few days before AMO's conference in London, Ont.

Naqvi claims the new model will be transparent, but crucial details have been left out, said community safety critic Rick Nicholls.

"The government has provided an average per house price for policing. That doesn't tell municipalities what police services will cost in Cochrane versus what they will cost in Leamington," he said in a statement.

By Maria Babbage, The Canadian Press

http://www.caledonenterprise.com/news-s ... ipalities/
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New deal means most municipalities will pay more for OPP

Postby Thomas » Fri Aug 15, 2014 5:38 am

TORONTO -- Most municipalities that pay Ontario Provincial Police for local law enforcement will see their policing costs go up over the next five years, the governing Liberals said Thursday.

The OPP is introducing a new billing model that the government said will simplify, clarify and more evenly distribute costs among municipalities, who are concerned about having to hike property taxes to pay rising policing costs.

Community Safety Minister Yasir Naqvi said the new model, which would separate base costs and service call costs, won't increase the amount of money the OPP recovers from municipalities. But it will change how much those communities are paying for OPP services, which have varied widely throughout the province.

Some municipalities are paying less than $10 a year per household, while other similar communities are paying over $800 per year, he said.

Ontario's auditor general criticized those discrepancies in the 2012 annual report, also noting that while crime rates have gone down, policing expenditures have gone up.

Of the 324 municipalities who rely on OPP services, 207 will see an average increase of about $83 per property, which will include business and industrial properties as well as households, while 115 communities will see their cost decrease by about $70 per property.

The changes will be phased in over five years, starting in January, with annual increases capped at $40 per property, Naqvi said. Decreases will start at $18 and reach $98 in the final year.

"This will provide stability and predictability for both taxpayers and municipalities," he said.

The bill will be split 60-40 between base costs -- which includes routine patrols, crime prevention, local detachments, officer training and administrative duties -- and calls for service, such as a car accident.

Municipalities are not charged for provincial duties those same officers may perform, such as patrolling provincial highways and waterways, said OPP Insp. Bert McDonald of the Municipal Policing Bureau. They're also compensated when officers are called out to major events, like the devastating Goderich tornado or the upcoming 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Games.

Naqvi said all municipalities will end up paying the same amount -- about $203 per property -- to cover base costs. Communities will also get "very detailed" reports on the type and volume of service calls.

The new model may clarify policing costs, but it does nothing to contain them, which is a big concern for many towns and cities, said Pat Vanini of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.

According to the OPP, salary, benefits and overtime account for about 85 per cent of the bill it sends to municipalities.

"I don't know any municipal government where policing costs isn't the highest portion of the tax bill," Vanini said. "It's in Toronto, even where municipal forces are."

The OPP received an 8.5 per cent wage hike this year after a two-year pay freeze, having signed a contract with the province that guarantees they'll be the highest paid cops in Ontario.

The cash-strapped Liberals have said for several years that there's no new money for salary increases as they struggle to slay a multibillion-dollar deficit. But critics remain skeptical, saying the hefty pay hike proves it's just lip service.

Naqvi insisted Thursday that there's no new money for pay hikes, but wouldn't say whether the Liberals' commitment to make the OPP the top paid police in the province would be withdrawn in their next round of negotiations with the Ontario Provincial Police Association.

The Progressive Conservatives questioned the "eleventh hour" timing of his announcement, just a few days before AMO's conference in London, Ont.

Naqvi claims the new model will be transparent, but crucial details have been left out, said community safety critic Rick Nicholls.

"The government has provided an average per house price for policing. That doesn't tell municipalities what police services will cost in Cochrane versus what they will cost in Leamington," he said in a statement.

http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/new-deal-me ... -1.1960094
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