GORE BAY—It appears that policing costs are going to be increasing for municipalities across Ontario.
“I think they are basically giving us a heads up that there has been no new collective agreement settlement reached. It will mean at some point there will be an extra bump (cost increase) because of it,” said Gore Bay Mayor Ron Lane, after council reviewed a letter dated September 8 from Commander Marc Bedard, superintendent of the municipal policing bureau with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). In his letter Cmdr. Bedard explained, “in anticipation of the 2017 annual billing statements, the OPP, municipal policing bureau would like to provide you with the following notice. Most OPP members are represented by the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA). OPP salaries and benefits are negotiated through the collective bargaining process. The OPPA bargains with The Crown in the Right of Ontario, represented by Treasury Board Secretariat (formerly the Ministry of Government Services) which represents the employer-the province of Ontario. The OPPA Uniform and Civilian Collective Agreements expired on December 31, 2014 and as negotiations on a new agreement are still ongoing, salary rates for 2015 and beyond have yet to be established.”
“As part of the current billing model, a reconciliation of the 2015 actual costs to the estimate provided in the 2015 annual billing statement would normally be included in the 2017 Annual Billing Statements issued by October 1 of this year,” continued Cmdr. Bedard. “As the reconciliation of municipal policing costs is principally salary related it is not possible to perform this calculation in time for the 2017 annual billing statements. The OPP will therefore include both the 2015 and 2016 reconciliation adjustments in the 2018 annual billing statement, providing municipalities with the opportunity to include these adjustments in their 2018 budget planning.”
“Please note the estimated salary rates incorporated in the municipal policing annual statements are set to reduce the risk of municipalities potentially incurring significant reconciliation adjustments,” continued Cmdr. Bedard. “The annual estimates of general salary rate increases included in the 2015 through 2017 annual billing statements have been based on current salary rate settlements with other Ontario municipal police services. The rate increases have been estimated for 2015 through 2017 as 1.5 percent, 2.64 percent, and 2.54 percent respectively.”
“The OPP values its relationship with your municipality and will continue working with all of our partners to ensure community safety in Ontario,” added Cmdr. Bedard.
“It’s a budget item for us (Gore Bay), we have no choice but to pay the costs for the policing,” said Mayor Lane.