Municipalities still pushing back against rising OPP costs
Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2026 1:23 am
Bancroft mayor sends open letter to solicitor general
Municipal politicians in Ontario, including those in Hastings County, are again calling upon the province to implement a fairer funding model for provincial policing amid what they call “unsustainable” increases in costs.
In a Sept. 23 news release, Bancroft Mayor Paul Jenkins said the town in 2027 may pay $1.79 million for OPP service. That’s about 24 per cent of the town’s municipal levy, he said. Bancroft has about 4,100 residents, a few hundred fewer than Hastings Highlands, the most populous municipality in North Hastings.
Municipalities are already battered by infrastructure deficits and other costs, Jenkins said in an interview, “and then we’re getting hit with this.
“This is going to put 2.5 per cent on our tax bill – just that one item – before we even start looking at anything else. So it’s unsustainable.”
Jenkins – who is not seeking re-election this fall – has sent an open letter to the office of Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner asking the province “to recognize the unique challenges faced by small and rural municipalities.” He suggested additional funding for policing, a review of the current cost-sharing model, and/or a new approach to “better reflect” smaller municipalities’ “limited taxation capacity.”
Jenkins recalled the days – several decades ago – when Ontario paid for policing before downloading the cost to municipalities.
He said one portion of the policing bill is linked to the number of calls for service; the other portion is comprised of fixed costs distributed on a per-capita basis.
That, he said, puts an unfair and disproportionate burden on Bancroft, the urban hub of the North Hastings district, which includes seven other municipalities, all of them rural.
“If you have a lot of calls for service, then you bear a higher proportion of the costs of the whole detachment. So, being an urban area, we get hit with them all.”
The solicitor general on Aug. 14 sent municipal leaders a letter stating they will see a maximum increase of 11 per cent in their 2027 costs for provincial policing, excluding the costs for any additional police services municipalities may have chosen.
The province recognizes “the importance of ensuring policing costs are sustainable and predictable for municipalities, and we will continue working with our municipal partners on these shared priorities,” Kerzner wrote.
Last October, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario stated recent changes made by the province, including a cap of 11 per cent on costs for the 2026 calendar year, “do not provide a long-term solution” to the pressure on municipalities.
Stirling-Rawdon’s policing bill spurred Bob Mullin to run for a council seat in the 2010 election. He’s now the township’s mayor and the county’s warden. Stirling-Rawdon council in 2017 ended its municipal police force in favour of service from the Central Hastings OPP detachment.
The township’s 2026 policing bill was $1.01 million; it includes annual repayment of a loan related to the disbanding of the municipal police service and benefit costs for retirees. Council this year allocated $50,000 from reserves to lower the total cost.
“Had we stayed with our own policing, we would probably be well over $2 million now,” Mullin said.
Mullin said he understands Bancroft’s situation of being the urban centre of a large, rural district and shares other mayors’ concerns about rising costs.
“It would be nice if we had some input,” he said.
“If you’re going to come back with 11 per cent, give us some kind of, you know, reasoning, or some kind of input.”
Mullin said if costs were to rise by 11 per cent, it would also represent a hike of two per cent for Stirling-Rawdon taxpayers.
“It hurts.
“So, in retrospect, it was definitely the right thing to do, but it’s like a lot of provincial costs: they just passed it down without any ability to respond.”
“Eleven per cent is too much,” he said. Mullin explained municipalities’ usual approach is to budget for cost increases tied to inflation and changes in service.
“As I understand it, there’s no change in the program. We’re getting the same service we got last year. So, where is that 11 per cent coming from? Is that all salaries? Is that fuel costs?
“Give us something to work with.”
https://www.intelligencer.ca/news/munic ... opp-costs/
Municipal politicians in Ontario, including those in Hastings County, are again calling upon the province to implement a fairer funding model for provincial policing amid what they call “unsustainable” increases in costs.
In a Sept. 23 news release, Bancroft Mayor Paul Jenkins said the town in 2027 may pay $1.79 million for OPP service. That’s about 24 per cent of the town’s municipal levy, he said. Bancroft has about 4,100 residents, a few hundred fewer than Hastings Highlands, the most populous municipality in North Hastings.
Municipalities are already battered by infrastructure deficits and other costs, Jenkins said in an interview, “and then we’re getting hit with this.
“This is going to put 2.5 per cent on our tax bill – just that one item – before we even start looking at anything else. So it’s unsustainable.”
Jenkins – who is not seeking re-election this fall – has sent an open letter to the office of Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner asking the province “to recognize the unique challenges faced by small and rural municipalities.” He suggested additional funding for policing, a review of the current cost-sharing model, and/or a new approach to “better reflect” smaller municipalities’ “limited taxation capacity.”
Jenkins recalled the days – several decades ago – when Ontario paid for policing before downloading the cost to municipalities.
He said one portion of the policing bill is linked to the number of calls for service; the other portion is comprised of fixed costs distributed on a per-capita basis.
That, he said, puts an unfair and disproportionate burden on Bancroft, the urban hub of the North Hastings district, which includes seven other municipalities, all of them rural.
“If you have a lot of calls for service, then you bear a higher proportion of the costs of the whole detachment. So, being an urban area, we get hit with them all.”
The solicitor general on Aug. 14 sent municipal leaders a letter stating they will see a maximum increase of 11 per cent in their 2027 costs for provincial policing, excluding the costs for any additional police services municipalities may have chosen.
The province recognizes “the importance of ensuring policing costs are sustainable and predictable for municipalities, and we will continue working with our municipal partners on these shared priorities,” Kerzner wrote.
Last October, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario stated recent changes made by the province, including a cap of 11 per cent on costs for the 2026 calendar year, “do not provide a long-term solution” to the pressure on municipalities.
Stirling-Rawdon’s policing bill spurred Bob Mullin to run for a council seat in the 2010 election. He’s now the township’s mayor and the county’s warden. Stirling-Rawdon council in 2017 ended its municipal police force in favour of service from the Central Hastings OPP detachment.
The township’s 2026 policing bill was $1.01 million; it includes annual repayment of a loan related to the disbanding of the municipal police service and benefit costs for retirees. Council this year allocated $50,000 from reserves to lower the total cost.
“Had we stayed with our own policing, we would probably be well over $2 million now,” Mullin said.
Mullin said he understands Bancroft’s situation of being the urban centre of a large, rural district and shares other mayors’ concerns about rising costs.
“It would be nice if we had some input,” he said.
“If you’re going to come back with 11 per cent, give us some kind of, you know, reasoning, or some kind of input.”
Mullin said if costs were to rise by 11 per cent, it would also represent a hike of two per cent for Stirling-Rawdon taxpayers.
“It hurts.
“So, in retrospect, it was definitely the right thing to do, but it’s like a lot of provincial costs: they just passed it down without any ability to respond.”
“Eleven per cent is too much,” he said. Mullin explained municipalities’ usual approach is to budget for cost increases tied to inflation and changes in service.
“As I understand it, there’s no change in the program. We’re getting the same service we got last year. So, where is that 11 per cent coming from? Is that all salaries? Is that fuel costs?
“Give us something to work with.”
https://www.intelligencer.ca/news/munic ... opp-costs/