Renfrew signs three-year deal with OPP

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 signs three-year deal with OPP

Postby Thomas » Wed Feb 11, 2015 3:35 pm

Renfrew Mayor Don Eady says, the Ontario Provincial Police costs 22 per cent of the town’s budget, and he has his concerns.

“This is something that has been uploaded onto municipalities that is becoming very quickly, totally unaffordable. “When you look at 22 per cent of your budget going to one aspect of your society there’s something not quite right,” the mayor said.

“It’s something that has to be dealt with at a higher level. It’s getting extremely expensive. How much can a taxpayer afford,” he asked.


Monday night, Renfrew council voted to enter into a three-year agreement with the OPP. Options included a term of anywhere from three to six years.

“Based on the timing of the next municipal election, in October 2018, staff recommended to council to enter into a three-year agreement at this time,” town treasurer Keray O’Reilly said. “This council will have three years’ experience under its belt and will probably be in a much better position to look at the terms of the new agreement.”

A four-year agreement would put the new council in a tough position as the billing model would be one of the first things they’d have to deal with, O’Reilly said.

He added that a five or six-year agreement is too far down the road to consider.

O’Reilly told council the total billing for 2015 will be $1,935,927. This is a cost reduction of $102,890 from the 2014 budget amount. “That’s the good news,” the treasurer said.

The OPP billing model is comprised of a base cost, plus a calls-for-service formula.

The base cost will cover about 60 per cent of what a municipality will pay, calculated on a per property basis. Renfrew has 4,123 properties and will be charged $200.51 each.

Base service costs include such services as routine patrols, crime prevention, RIDE programs and proactive policing.

The other 40 per cent of the fee is the calls-for-service portion, based on each municipality’s usage.

Council agreed that educating the public might cut into the cost of the calls for service.

“If we were to inform ourselves more about what (phoning) 2-1-1 does for social services and community assistance and other venues, then perhaps we might not be leaning on 9-1-1 quite so much,” Councillor Kate Windle said.

“I’m not suggesting people wouldn’t call 9-1-1 in the case of an emergency situation, but I think we need to know that there are more services available and that would be an opportunity for us to save some money.”

Reeve Peter Emon said the federal and provincial governments determine the laws and the policy in terms of enforcement.

“We pay the bill. We have no input into the level of service that we want,” he said.


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