Rural politicians relieved over $77M funding to cover spiking police costs

[Michael Jack]

Queen’s Park is doling out $77 million to help ease the sticker shock for Ontario municipalities that are facing big increases to the cost of having the Ontario Provincial Police patrol their communities.

Premier Doug Ford’s government announced the money on Nov. 29 to offset the bill that municipal governments will face as OPP costs increase. Several area local governments have been bracing for the uptick, including West Perth.

West Perth will receive $287,945 in financial relief to help offset the increase in OPP billing from the collective bargaining agreement reached earlier this year, which amounts to “almost a wash” for the municipality, Mayor Walter McKenzie said during a brief discussion at council’s Dec. 2 meeting.

Interim co-CAO Dan Hobson confirmed the relief will result in a 0.77 per cent policing cost increase, which is much smaller than what was originally announced.

In 2023, costs for policing in West Perth was $1,605,805 before rising by 4.79 per cent this year to $1,682,751. Before the relief was announced, policing was going to cost West Perth $1,983,649 — a 17.88 per cent hike — in 2025. The funding received lowers the cost to $1,695,704.

“This investment will help these predominantly small and rural communities address the budget impacts resulting from the collective bargaining agreement that was reached between the province and the Ontario Provincial Police Association in July 2024,” a Queen’s Park statement read.

The Ford government’s funding announcement comes as welcome news to municipal politicians who were facing inflated 2025 budgets — and tax hikes for property owners –- due to the OPP’s bills.

“It’s great that the government has moved on the concerns of the municipalities they’ve addressed,” Lucan-Biddulph Mayor Cathy Burghardt-Jesson said.

Lucan-Biddulph had been facing double the expected property tax hike, with an additional 2.2 percentage point increase in 2025 as a result of the OPP bill, without the provincial government’s funding.

“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,” Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said in a statement.

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