Duane Hicks
Fort Frances council is in favour of the new billing model for OPP services.
Discussion of the new model was prompted last night by a request from the Township of Seguin to support a resolution against it.
Council declined to support that resolution and, in fact, might send a resolution back to Seguin indicating their support of the new model.
“I don’t think that we should support this resolution,” said Mayor Roy Avis.
“I say that because I think it’s a fairer system they’re coming up with—a per household cost basis,” he noted.
Under the new model, the mayor said “everybody is going to be paying equal,” with additional costs being based on calls for service.
Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig noted the town currently is on the high end of per household costs for policing, paying more than $600 per household.
“What this new billing model is trying to do is to establish a base per household cost for municipalities so that everybody is paying the same,” he explained.
“We know that there’s people outside our municipality that pay considerably less in household costs.”
McCaig said town reps recently attended an OPP information session and learned any municipality that has per household costs in the high range, such as Fort Frances, will see a decrease once the new billing model kicks in come 2015.
McCaig added OPP contract costs will go up 8.5 percent in 2014. That translates into a $218,000 cost increase to the town—and that’s significant.
“We hear that this new model is going to come into effect sometime in 2015, and the benefits of it will be staged gradually so that people that have to pay [more], they’ll do it over a period of time,” he remarked, adding it looks like the town is paying less and less over a three-year period.
“So although we’re paying more this year, we’re hoping . . . we may have some savings in store for us all things remaining the same with this contract,” said McCaig, noting that perhaps the 2014 increase will be offset in the few years that follow.
Coun. Ken Perry agreed the town should send a response to Seguin showing it supports the new billing model.
“We are way at the top end of what people are paying,” Coun. Perry remarked. “There is one municipality that’s paying seven dollars per person.
“That’s $14 per household.”
He added Atikokan pays considerably more than Fort Frances, while Rainy River pays close to what Fort Frances does, but the rest of the district pays considerably less.
McCaig said there’s been a movement in recent years to ensure unorganized areas pay their fair share, and he believes this will be looked at as part of the revisions to the OPP billing model.
