Small municipalities are getting a break from the province this fall as the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services rolls out changes to the billing policy for the Ontario Provincial Police, some mayors say.
The changes in policy are intended, according to a government release issued Thursday afternoon, to address a number of longstanding complaints from small and northern municipalities: Namely that they have little control over the operations of the OPP, but are increasingly saddled with costs that are unsustainable for their small property tax bases.
Cochrane Mayor Peter Politis <a href="http://www.qpbriefing.com/2013/08/28/no-help-for-municipalities-after-permissive-change-on-stun-guns-wynne/">told QP Briefing last August</a>  that "the entire model is in question, the legislation, the regulation, the policies, none of its working."  In particular, Politis said the lack of control small municipalities have over policing decisions that hit their bottom line, not the province's, make it difficult for towns like his to keep up.
The changes to the OPP's pricing model haven't been finalized yet, but both Politis and ministry staff were able to describe the basic outlines of the system the province is moving to.
Two-thirds of the policing costs will be shared equally among municipalities across the province based on the number of households in the municipality. So smaller towns that rely on the OPP will pay less than more populous ones. The remaining third of policing costs will be based on the type and number of police calls made in each community. That means that a relatively simple police call that only takes an hour of  time will cost less than something more complicated, such as a grow-op investigation.
This afternoon, Politis told QP Briefing he was happy with the changes and expected them to save his community of about 7,500 people $500,000 a year. "We're pleased, they're a step in the right direction. They're equalizing and making things fairer."
However, he dismissed other parts of the government's press release. The government claims the changes will "provide  municipalities with important data to help tailor crime prevention strategies in their communities," but Politis called it "political fluff, at the end of the day."
Politis said the province should take the costs of the OPP off of municipal budgets if it wants to retain control over the police, or enter into what he calls a "true partnership" with municipalities.  "We have no control over the OPP. Municipalities are paying the bill, but they don't have any control over it."
Ministry staff said the data that will help towns modify their crime responses will in effect be on their OPP bills, which will now itemize the type and number of police calls that were responded to. This means that towns will be able to see that, for example, there were more calls for domestic assault from one year to the next and craft a strategy that will allow them to respond to that - provided that the strategy doesn't involve providing direction to the OPP.
The revised model is in part a response to months of consultation with OPP client towns, and also a response to <a href="http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/reports_en/en12/310en12.pdf">a report from the auditor general on OPP pricing.</a> The changes are not an unqualified benefit for all towns: Some will pay more than they are under the current plan.
The model has not been finalized yet, but is expected to take effect Jan. 1 2015.

OPP billing changes will help: Cochrane mayor

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