OPP billing model a question of fairness

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?

OPP billing model a question of fairness

Postby Thomas » Tue Feb 24, 2015 2:45 am

ALMAGUIN – The new OPP billing model is supposed to make funding fair, but with the Almaguin Highlands detachment total bill set to increase more than $1.4 million over the next five years, it’s hard to find the fairness.

Minister Yasir Naqvi of the ministry of community safety and correctional services announced the new OPP billing model in August 2014.

“The new model is more fair, more transparent and more equitable — eliminating the huge differences municipalities were paying for policing by more equitably redistributing costs and provides municipalities with data so they can better understand the types of calls in their community and direct crime prevention strategies,” Jonathan Rose, director of communications for Naqvi, says.

“We heard from municipalities who knew it was not fair, and we were told by the Auditor General that the current model was not fair, that the bills were unclear, and that it needed to change.”

Despite the fact that in 2015 alone Almaguin municipalities are paying $335,000 more to the OPP in total, the ministry says the new model doesn’t increase police or provincial revenue.

“The new model simply redistributes the cost recovery among municipalities in a way that is more fair and equitable,” Naqvi said during the August announcement.

“It is important to note that the new model does not increase the amount of money the OPP recovers from municipalities. No additional money will come to the province because of this change.”

“We know that this will increase the costs for some municipalities while decreasing them for others, to ensure the new bill model provided stability and predictability for both taxpayers and municipalities,” Rose says.

“As such, the government chose to cap both the increases and decreases to ensure both stability and predictability for both taxpayers and municipalities.”

But some say the billing model doesn’t provide the fairness it promises.

“The Liberal government has increased costs for municipalities on one hand while cutting transfer payments on the other, that's not a solution for municipalities experiencing large increases in policing costs,” Chatham-Kent-Essex MPP Rick Nicholls, the Ontario PC party community safety critic, says.

“They're handing them a bigger policing bill and taking away transfers. That's hardly fair.”

Nicholls is planning on broaching the topic at Queen’s Park this week, as Legislature returns for the first time in 2015.

“It is a fact that the new OPP billing model is in place and municipalities have to adapt to the changes,” Nicholls says.

“The provincial government must do all that it can to assist municipalities that simply cannot realistically cope with sudden increases on their own. We will continue to bring the concerns of communities to the government's attention.”

The Almaguin area has some of those municipalities facing extreme cost increases. In many cases, municipalities are looking at bills expected to double or even triple over the next five years, though the numbers have been made easier to handle with a phase-in adjustment.

“The rising cost of policing is a matter that impacts the entire province,” Nicholls says.

“Ministry staff have said that they have begun to review these rising costs but no reports or recommendations have come out as of yet.

“If a municipality is asked to pay millions more for police services, the provincial government needs to be crystal clear about where this new money is going.”

Even the phase in adjustment isn’t enough to mitigate the problem, Nicholls says.

“To know the true impact of this billing model, you need to look at this Liberal government's treatment of municipalities overall,” he says.

“They have cut funding to municipalities time and time again, be it through the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund, canceling the connecting links program, or by ignoring issues with joint and several liability.”

The MCSCS and OPP have also faced criticism from Almaguin area municipalities for the decision to include seasonal properties at equal weight with permanent residences.

“The new model reflects the feedback and input we received from several municipalities,” Rose says.

“It now includes industrial and commercial properties in the new formula. Including a seasonal property discount, however, would go against the principle of fairness at the heart of the new billing model and like other municipal services, such as water and garbage collection, policing is a year round service for both people and property.”

Nicholls takes a different stance.

“Cottages require yearlong protection in the sense that the property must be protected from break-ins or trespassing,” Nicholls says.

“However, it is certainly frustrating for a cottager to pay full time when they're only there for a portion of the year. The Ministry should be tracking service calls to cottage communities to ensure their billing accurately reflects their needs.”

Discussion of the billing model will continue in Queen’s Park where, like most government issues, the Liberals and Ontario PCs take different views.

“We have worked hard with our municipal and policing partners to develop a new OPP model,” Rose says. “It is a fair approach. It is responsive approach. It is an equitable approach. And it is a transparent and responsible approach.”

But Nicholls says fairness is still a concern that needs to be addressed.

“Each municipality has different policing needs and different budgeting concerns. What makes sense for one municipality may not work for another,” Nicholls says.

“We are concerned that a new police billing model coupled with ongoing provincial funding cuts to municipalities might force municipalities to either raise taxes or reduce the quality of integral services.”

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