OPP billing model falls short for Haliburton

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?

OPP billing model falls short for Haliburton

Postby Thomas » Fri Aug 22, 2014 9:08 am

The new OPP billing model, which is expected to increase policing costs in Haliburton County by more than $3 million, will be implemented by the province on Jan. 1, 2015.

And although the County of Haliburton issued a statement saying it was "disappointed" with the new model, it doesn't appear there will be room for negotiation.

County Warden Dave Burton spoke to Ontario Community Safety Minister, Yasir Naqvi, during the recent Association of Municipalities Ontario's (AMO) annual conference held in London.

"They're not willing to even budge on the seasonal component that we were trying to put in there, so it's pretty much a done deal," said Burton in a phone interview on Aug. 19. "He said he doesn't think it would be fair – and that's about it."

Under the new billing model, which was presented to the media on Aug. 14 by Naqvi, the same services provided to all four municipalities are expected to more than double in cost from $3.3 million to $6.5 million.

With the model, 60 per cent of a municipality's bill for policing will be made up of base costs (patrols, operating expenses, crime prevention activities, etc.) while the remaining 40 percent will be calculated on calls for service (accidents, crimes in progress, etc.).

According to Naqvi, the estimated base cost will be $203 per property and annual increases will be capped at $40 per property, over the next five years. Residential, commercial and industrial properties are included in the formula.

"Today's announcement shows that through constructive dialogue and productive conversation, comes real action to increase fairness, equity and transparency around OPP billing," said Naqvi during the teleconference.

"This will provide stability and predictability for both taxpayers and municipalities," he said, calling the model fair and equitable for all municipalities.

With the current cost-recovery formula, base services account for 73 per cent of the bill while calls for service amount to 27 per cent. This model, which serves 324 municipalities across the province, hasn't been updated in nearly 17 years, said Naqvi.

In 2012, the auditor general identified issues with the current model and recommended that it be changed.

As part of the process, the AMO developed an OPP billing steering committee which included representation from Haliburton County in the form of Minden Hills Reeve Barb Reid. The committee was comprised of representatives from several municipalities, some of which faced increases under a new model and others that anticipated a decrease.

In April, the committee determined that a 50 per cent household/50 per cent weighted assessment be used to calculate the base cost component cost. With the AMO's revised model, policing costs in Haliburton County were expected to skyrocket to $8.5 million, or $369 per household.

In an effort to lobby against the proposed model, the county organized a campaign known as OPP May Day in May. Local residents were asked to get on social media, phone and write government officials to explain how the model would negatively impact them.

While local municipal officials are somewhat pleased to see the inclusion of commercial and industrial properties – one of the changes they advocated for – the final outcome could have been better.

"I would say by in large we are all individually, collectively disappointed in the announcement," said Algonquin Highlands Reeve Carol Moffatt. "We had hoped that our lobby and OPP May Day would've produced more tangible results than has happened."

Although municipalities aren't expected to find out what their variable costs will be until the fall, Moffatt said it appears as though Algonquin Highlands will be hardest hit in the county.

"We still think it's unfair and that you should pay for the services you use," she said.

In his call, Naqvi said that just because some communities have a high number of seasonal residents and properties are left vacant during the winter months doesn't mean that police are less active in those areas.

"Policing services are provided year-round, 24 hours a day, both to people and property. Just because in the winter months you have fewer people in those communities does not mean that OPP is not actively making sure that the properties ... are not being sufficiently protected as well," he explained.

Naqvi added that the OPP actually increase their level of service during the summer months in areas with an influx of seasonal residents. He said more officers are on the ground and other resources, such as marine units, are utilized.

"In the new billing model there will be no additional cost for that increased service because it's part of the base level of service," he said.

According to the county's press release, these two statements made by Naqvi contain inaccurate information.

"The minister's statement that there are policing enhancements in cottage country during the summer is incorrect. In fact, while call volumes increase due to a greater number of people in the county, there are no extra officers assigned to this area.

"Secondly, due to the inaccessible nature of many private cottage roads in the winter, seasonal properties cannot be patrolled year round," stated the release, which was signed by Burton.

Reid was disappointed with Naqvi's "misstatements," and called the new model "anything but fair and equitable."

"After all this time, no one has brought any statistical evidence to Haliburton County demonstrating that we are not paying our fair share of policing costs," she said.

Dysart Reeve Murray Fearrey isn't at all surprised that the ministry adopted the per property formula, but said it will "never be right as long as households are the base."

"There are many cottagers here where there's five months of the year that you can hardly even get to them," said Fearrey. "To say they're the same is almost irrelevant."

Fearrey said he hopes to see some mitigation funding made available through the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund to help ease the pain.

However, based on the information that Burton received, no financial assistance would be available to the county.

"The question was asked of him [Naqvi] if there's any funding to help us with this, and there's not," he said.

Of the municipalities served by the OPP, 207 will see their policing costs rise while 115 expect to see a decrease.

http://highlanderonline.ca/opp-billing- ... ton?id=727
Thomas, Administrator

User avatar
Thomas
Site Admin
 
Posts: 2562
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:18 pm
Location: Canada

Return to Unsustainable Policing Costs

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests