Ontario announces OPP cost relief for small, rural municipalities

[Michael Jack]

Facing outrage and pressure from municipalities, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government is proposing relief from rising provincial policing costs this year for small and rural municipalities.

In a news release early Friday, the government announced a proposal to provide more than $77 million in financial relief to help offset municipalities’ costs for Ontario Provincial Police service.

It’s intended to lessen the impact from the province’s July collective bargaining agreement with the OPP Association.

“Our government is working closely with our municipal partners and our women and men in uniform to keep communities across Ontario safe,” said Solicitor General Michael Kerzner. “The financial relief we are proposing will help municipal leaders balance their budgets and invest in their communities while ensuring no change to the policing provided by the OPP that keeps families and businesses safe.”

The release states municipalities will see a “3.75 per cent bill reduction on 2023 total reconciled costs, a 44 per cent bill reduction on 2023 reconciled overtime costs, and a 10 per cent bill reduction on amounts invoiced for 2025 policing costs.”

“In addition to these changes, the Government of Ontario is continuing its annual $125 million Court Security and Prisoner Transportation Transfer Payment Program for the 2025 calendar year,” reads the release.

“The province will also be examining options for reviewing the OPP billing model to ensure that it meets the needs of communities across the province.”

The issue is a hot one in municipal circles. Municipal leaders across the province have reacted with shock and anger to often large increases in their 2025 OPP bills. Some have been expecting hikes of more than 20 per cent – and all at once. A similar increase several years ago was implemented over three years, Hastings County council has heard.

In a telephone interview Friday, County Warden Bob Mullin welcomed the news and expressed the county’s thanks.

“The 10 per cent (bill reduction) is certainly a respectable number,” Mullin said.

He said the government was “responding to the concerns expressed by all” municipalities.

Yet Mullin said even with the proposed reductions, municipalities will still see significant increases in their bills.

A municipality’s policing budget is such a large item in its overall budget that deducting 10 per cent still leaves the municipality with “a big number” in terms of the overall increase for the service, he said.

Prior to Friday’s announcement, the total cost of OPP service across the county in 2025 was to be $10.3 million, an increase in one year of $1.8 million, or 24 per cent, chief administration officer Connor Dorey said Nov. 19.

Speaking that day to the county’s finance committee, he said county municipalities were expecting a resulting average increase of 3.2 per cent on their tax levies.

The government’s contract with the OPP Association gives officers a raise of 4.75 per cent retroactive to 2023, the first year of the contract. It then promises raises of 4.5 per cent in the second year and 2.75 per cent in each of the last two years, ending in 2026.

Mullin replied, “I’m not a fan – never have been a fan of percentage increases.”

He said earlier provincial action on the costs could have saved municipalities a lot of grief.

“We’re all trying to get our budgets done. … The fact that we’re getting these numbers in virtually December really doesn’t help anybody.”

Municipalities had been doing their planning with the numbers they had.

“If we had those numbers earlier, it would make the budgeting process much simpler,” said Mullin.

Despite that, Mullin continued, it’s important for municipalities to thank the province “for listening to our concerns

“I think we have to take a positive spin on it.”

https://www.intelligencer.ca/news/ontar ... cipalities