Many Ontario communities face 11% increase in policing costs

[Michael Jack]

The 330 Ontario municipalities that rely on the Ontario Provincial Police are wondering how an expected 11 per cent increase in policing costs will affect their budget.

After municipalities sounded the alarm about major cost increases last year, the province decided to cap the spending spike.

“Our council had passed the resolution that asked the government to upload the OPP servicing to the province,” Mattawa Mayor Raymond Belanger told CTV News.

“We still believe it’s under their mandate.”

In a letter to mayors, Ontario’s Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said the 2025-2026 increase will be capped at 11 per cent, and the threshold for receiving a discount based on call volume will be lowered going forward.

“We heard loud and clear that greater clarity, predictability and stability in the OPP cost recovery model and associated billing statements is critical to municipalities as annual budget processes are undertaken,” Kerzner wrote in a Sept. 26 letter.

“These amendments were contemplated, and ultimately decided upon, based on those concerns and the direct feedback that we heard from OPP-policed municipalities.”

That’s left several municipalities looking at tax increases or spending cuts to cover soaring policing costs.

“Eleven per cent is still a lot for municipalities to swallow, especially when it’s one of your biggest costs,” said West Nipissing Mayor Kathleen Thorne Rochon.

When a new contract boosted police salaries, many municipalities were slapped with increases of between 20 and 30 per cent.

At the time, Belanger said, Mattawa council projected a 29 per cent spike or an increase of $125,000.

“That would have represented a 7.7 per cent increase on the residents of Mattawa’s taxation,” he said.

In a public statement Oct. 3, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) said the new rate changes “do not provide a long-term solution to the growing policing cost pressures” towns and municipalities face.

“In addition, preliminary analysis suggests that very few municipalities will benefit from the lower threshold levels,” AMO also wrote.

The province announced $77 million last November to help communities address the financial impact of the contract agreement with the Ontario Provincial Police Association that was ratified last summer.

“When we got the rebate last year, the choice of our council with that was to use about half on last year and to tuck half away to try to offset any further increases,” said Thorne Rochon.

With local councils starting budget talks deliberations soon and with the police billing statements expected next month, there’s a lot to think about for long-term planning.

Belanger said the issue doesn’t “concern the service” Mattawa receives. Recalling a recent conversation he had with a police constable, Belanger noted the difficult nature of the job.

“It’s the affordability and the sustainability that’s the issue,” he said.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/northern-ontario ... ing-costs/