Town wants province to pay for OPP in small municipalities

[Michael Jack]

Town council wants the province to eliminate the cost of Ontario Provincial Police services for municipalities with populations of fewer than 10,000 residents.

During its Nov. 19 meeting, a resolution calling on the province to immediately implement sustainable funding for small rural municipalities by reabsorbing the cost of the OPP was unanimously passed.

Municipalities across Ontario were recently hit with large increases for policing services provided by the OPP.

During the Oct. 15 council meeting, Mayor Stacy Wight noted the town has received the police services bill for 2025, and it comes with a more than $700,000 increase.

The annual bill is going up to $3,517,346 from $2,801,161, representing an increase of $716,185. Wight described the increase as “a staggering blow to the budget process, even before staff and treasury begin to factor in any other municipal responsibilities.”

After the resolution was tabled, Wight said, “It is no secret the OPP annual billing has affected small municipalities in a greater way than those in larger municipalities.

“It is such a draw on our communities when we are looking at (with some municipalities) a 22 per cent increase in their tax base.”

It should be noted an increase of more than $700,000 that would equate to approximately a five per cent increase for Kirkland Lake taxpayers.

The mayor added this type of billing is simply not sustainable.

“When we look at what we need to deliver for our people, we simply cannot continue to bear the brunt of downloading from the province and they need to recognize that this is something that is minimal in cost compared to what they are giving to larger municipalities,” she said.

In her resolution the mayor cited several examples of Queen’s Park assisting large communities.

“The Ontario government has committed $9.1 billion to Toronto alone to assist with operating deficits and the repatriation of the Don Valley and Gardner Expressway and $534 million to Ottawa for the repatriation of Highway 174.”

Coun. Rick Owen said, “I am very pleased with the service we get from the OPP. I always have been. Their expertise in specialized areas gives small communities like ours a chance to do proper investigations to catch the bad guys and put them away.

“This is not an issue of the quality of the service we are getting. This is an issue of what we can afford, plain and simple. The smaller the municipality, especially true in mining communities, the less we have of a commercial and industrial tax base, which means increases, substantial increases, like what we are facing this year, falls primarily back to residential people.

“We know many people in our community are struggling just to hang onto their houses. We know, as a council, we are looking at about a five per cent tax rate increase. We will make cuts here, there and everywhere to try and bring down the increase but it’s not sustainable.”

Coun. Janice Ranger added, “I am so glad our mayor brought this forward and we will be sending out a request. It is a 100 per cent failure on the provincial government that they have downloaded this to small municipalities without (recognizing) the consequences to the effect it has on our communities and the ripple effects.

“We are taking away money that we could utilize for other needs of our taxpayers. I do not know what the outcome will be, but we certainly need to do everything we can as a small community to let the provincial government know that these downloads have such dire consequences, that we will never recover from if something isn’t done.”

Coun. Casey Owens said, “I think the sense of urgency in this particular motion is unmatched in anything we have had to pass. The 2025 budget scares me. A lot of things scare me in 2025, but this one even more because of the hit residents will have to take on their tax bills will be surprising.

“We can’t cut police services, we need our OPP. The officers do an amazing job in Kirkland Lake. We need their presence. We may have more difficult decisions to make if this motion doesn’t get through.”

Coun. Pat Kiely added his voice to the matter, questioning the reasons for the hike.

“I am not sure why this billing had such a large increase,” he said. “Possibility it was the fact we have had several murders which really blew the budget out for investigation time. I believe that is part of it.

“Surely, we are not going to have an increase in murders. These things have happened in the past, they are not a repeat item, so a $700,000 increase is outrageous in my opinion.”

Chief Administrative Officer Alan Smith also got into the discussion.

He said, “The province did schedule webinars on speaking to the increase in the costs. However, once they received complaints and concerns, they cancelled those webinars.

“So, our treasurer is looking into this. He is reaching out and trying to get an answer but the province, right now, is being very quiet.”

Smith noted the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Rural Ontario Municipal Association are also looking for answers.

A copy of the resolution will be sent to, amongst others, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner and Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalv.

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