OPP costs will increase taxes

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 costs will increase taxes

Postby Thomas » Fri Nov 28, 2014 12:36 pm

Before any Severn Council member even sharpens a pencil to take a look at the 2015 budget, property taxes will have already increased by 3.48 percent for the municipal portion.

That is before any road is looked at, any money is set aside for villages and hamlets and any vehicles are considered for purchase. Before anything.

“That’s simply the increase from the OPP contract alone,” explains Andrew Plunkett, Severn Township’s director of corporate services. “We are starting off with 3.48 percent (increase) before Council even looks at budgeting.”

The cost for OPP services budgeted for the Township in 2014 was $1,554,594 but the estimated 2015 cost will increase significantly to $2,276,659.

With a cap of what the municipality has to pay in place, the 2015 cost will be set at $1,780,956 and based on an estimate of two percent inflation for 2016 and 2017, phased in costs for those two years will be $2,071,835 and $2,368,657, respectively.

“This represents a 52 percent increase in OPP costs in the next three years for the Township of Severn,” Plunkett wrote in his Oct. 28, 2014 report to Council.

As a result, the municipal levy increases, just for OPP services, are estimated to be 4.48 percent in 2016 and 4.57 percent in 2017.

For Severn residents with an average home assessment of $250,000, it means an increase of $40 per year and that amount will be shown as a separate line on the municipal levy portion of the tax bill. County taxes and school board taxes are separate on the tax bill.

According to Plunkett’s report, the new OPP billing model reflects input from the Auditor General and municipalities to more fairly and transparently distribute policing costs.

There are two components: base policing costs such as crime prevention, proactive policing, officer training and administrative duties; and cost for reactive calls for service. Base policing will account for approximately 60 percent of the bill while reactive calls will be 40 percent.

While the new model eliminates the large differences in amounts municipalities were charged, smaller municipalities, like Severn Township, are seeing a large increase to policing costs.

While the OPP is billing each municipality per household, Severn Township bills its residents for policing services based on assessment.

By Kim Goggins

http://severnnewsonline.com/opp-costs-w ... mment-2477
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Re: OPP costs will increase taxes

Postby Thomas » Fri Nov 28, 2014 12:42 pm

That is just the beginning. The projected policing costs are... well, projected. Wait until you start receiving overtime bills from the OPP. Wait until there is yet another force-wide hike in their salaries and benefits. Then you will truly see the increased OPP costs. Municipalities across Ontario have been screaming about the rising policing costs. It would be hard to believe if it was not a fact. While OPP bills are levying heavy taxes on the communities its officers are supposed to protect, the OPP officers are enjoying their six figure salaries (viewtopic.php?f=27&t=505) while in numerous instances getting caught breaking the very law they have been sworn to uphold. To add insult to injury their legal fees are covered by the Ontario Provincial Police Association and even if they are suspended from duty they are suspended with pay of course as per the wonderfully "just and moral" Police Services Act. All of these perks at whose expense?
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