Huntsville braces for increased OPP costs
Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 3:06 amHUNTSVILLE – A hike in Ontario Provincial Police fees has Huntsville town councillors and staff on alert.
Denise Corry, acting chief administrative officer for the Town of Huntsville, told the corporate services committee on Nov. 12 that the District of Muskoka has warned the region’s six area municipalities about a hefty cost increase for police services expected next year.
The district paid about $10.9 million for police services in 2014. A new billing model will increase that fee by 46.9 per cent to about $16 million.
“We’re looking at a huge increase,” said Corry.
Mayor Claude Doughty noted that the additional cost would be passed onto the taxpayer as part of the District of Muskoka portion of the tax bill.
He said the increase would be phased in over three years.
“The district tab is going up quite a bit,” said Doughty.
He said a new Ontario Provincial Police billing model, created after the province directed the police to review their billing practices, caused the increase.
“Some municipalities are winners and some are losers,” he said.
Muskoka is in the latter category.
“It’s incredibly expensive,” said Doughty.
He said district councillors reviewed several scenarios in an attempt to reduce the cost of policing in the region, including an independent police force. But that option does not seem plausible, he said.
“I don’t think, legally, we can. But, if we could, the evidence says that it would be even more expensive,” he said.
He said the district will now be faced with the challenge of cutting costs in other areas to “soften the blow” of the police services cost increase.
He added that the Township of Lake of Bays is concerned about the increase because the district plans to collect taxes for the increase based on each of the six area municipalities’ assessments – the township has about 3,500 permanent residents compared to Huntsville’s roughly 19,000, yet the two have about the same assessment, so township property owners may have to pay significantly more.
http://www.muskokaregion.com/news-story ... opp-costs/
Denise Corry, acting chief administrative officer for the Town of Huntsville, told the corporate services committee on Nov. 12 that the District of Muskoka has warned the region’s six area municipalities about a hefty cost increase for police services expected next year.
The district paid about $10.9 million for police services in 2014. A new billing model will increase that fee by 46.9 per cent to about $16 million.
“We’re looking at a huge increase,” said Corry.
Mayor Claude Doughty noted that the additional cost would be passed onto the taxpayer as part of the District of Muskoka portion of the tax bill.
He said the increase would be phased in over three years.
“The district tab is going up quite a bit,” said Doughty.
He said a new Ontario Provincial Police billing model, created after the province directed the police to review their billing practices, caused the increase.
“Some municipalities are winners and some are losers,” he said.
Muskoka is in the latter category.
“It’s incredibly expensive,” said Doughty.
He said district councillors reviewed several scenarios in an attempt to reduce the cost of policing in the region, including an independent police force. But that option does not seem plausible, he said.
“I don’t think, legally, we can. But, if we could, the evidence says that it would be even more expensive,” he said.
He said the district will now be faced with the challenge of cutting costs in other areas to “soften the blow” of the police services cost increase.
He added that the Township of Lake of Bays is concerned about the increase because the district plans to collect taxes for the increase based on each of the six area municipalities’ assessments – the township has about 3,500 permanent residents compared to Huntsville’s roughly 19,000, yet the two have about the same assessment, so township property owners may have to pay significantly more.
http://www.muskokaregion.com/news-story ... opp-costs/