By Angela Brown

Battleford council eyes policing costs

May 4, 2017 | 8:23 AM

They likely can’t do much about it, but Town of Battleford council is reviewing its policing costs in case a change is on the horizon.

CAO John Enns-Wind gave council the heads up at its last meeting that other municipalities might decide to question the value of their share of policing costs where they see apparent inequities, compared to other similarly-sized municipalities.

The issue came up since the town of Lumsden, Sask., voted to send a letter to the province asking to have RCMP services be “assessed equally” to all municipalities with a population under 5,000 that use this service.

Enns-Wind indicated Lumsden expressed its concern that municipalities with an RCMP detachment are being penalized by having to pay a disproportionate share of costs for the service, compared to municipalities of a similar-size, without a detachment in their community. Lumsden pointed out it has “no control on the direction of the RCMP level of service” within its community or the detachment.   

“Given the provincial cuts that have happened, many municipalities will be looking at: ‘Why are we carrying this load when another community doesn’t seem to be carrying their fair share?’” Enns-Wind said.

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He advised council the Town of Battleford still needs to work with other jurisdictions and municipalities, but “we have to be diligent that some of these questions are being brought forward.”

The CAO presented a comparison showing that Kindersley, while roughly the same size as Battleford, has its own police detachment, and is paying $100,000 more for policing services. Battleford is paying $290,000, while Kindersley has to shell out $390,000.

As part of the cost-sharing formula, the province enters into a contract with the RCMP on the municipality’s behalf. The town then pays the province, not the RCMP, for the service.

“The contract is set with the province, and there is a formula that is followed for municipalities, and how much they pay,” said Enns-Wind.

The RCMP detachment in North Battleford provides policing for the Town of Battleford.

Generally speaking, the RCMP should have four officers providing policing for the town, but given changing schedules and the priorities of the day, that number can fluctuate.   

The town is happy with the level of policing service residents receive. A number of the officers also live in Battleford, adding to that level of security.

Coun. Gordon Yarde said council is concerned about the potential that policing costs could increase, however, and how that could impact the town’s budgeting decisions.

Administration will be working on preparing a policy position on the issue.

“Since the revision of the budget from the [provincial] government, all of these things are affected,” said Coun. Yarde. “So we have got to look at costs — what we have got to cut, if anything more.”

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW