Why One Size Does Not Fit All

Jeff Green | Dec 04, 2013

Editorial by Jeff Green

No one understands how the OPP currently calculates the fees it charges to municipalities. Therefore a lot of local populations were pleased when the OPP said it was going to simplify things. The OPP looked at all the costs that are charged to local municipalities throughout the territory they cover, and then looked at the total number of houses in that territory, and divided the total cost by the total number of households. They came up with a figure of $369 per household.

Then they said that is what they will charge each municipality, $369 times the number of households in the municipality.

One of the flaws in this - and this is a big flaw in a lot of our local townships - is that seasonal residences count.

When you look at how this will play out, let’s take the example of North and Central Frontenac.

Ratepayers in the two townships will end up paying a combined $2.7 million for policing in 2015, a steep increase from the combined $975,555 that was paid in 2013. That’s because there are 7,489 households in the townships, even though the combined permanent resident population is only 6,348.

For that money, the same level of service that is offered now by the OPP will still be offered; one police car, staffed on a 24-hour basis, is assigned to the Sharbot Lake detachment to serve both Central and North Frontenac.

At just under $1 million, that is already a pretty expensive police car, but raising the cost of one police car to $2.7 million per year, seems a bit rich by local standards