SUNDRE — The long anticipated and recently announced changes to the provincial police funding formula will force council to reconsider its budget, and all options, including increased taxes, are on the table.
“I knew it was coming, and I believe council knew it was coming,” said Mayor Terry Leslie last week during a phone interview.
“I don’t think it’s been reviewed for 15 years,” the mayor said about the provincial government’s police funding model.
“If you haven’t been paying, of course you don’t want to now.”
Through mayors and reeves as well as Alberta Urban Municipalities Association meetings, many small towns, counties and municipal districts were equally expecting the inevitability of paying for policing, he said.
The provincial government is attempting to address issues of rural crime and a shortage of RCMP officers as Depot struggles to graduate enough members, he said.
“They’ve asked municipalities to be partners,” he said, adding the government has made some decisions and is moving forward.
“There are costs involved.”
Council was expected to approve its budget during the Monday, Dec. 16 meeting. However, the new requisition will inevitably result in making adjustments to accommodate the increased cost.
“We’re going to have an interesting spring workshop,” he said.
Some municipalities have previously not been paying for police services, and Leslie said the changes are going to gradually make the system more equitable so all are contributing to cover the cost.
“For municipalities that already pay for RCMP services, they don’t have a lot of sympathy for those that don’t,” he said.
Announced two weeks ago, the new model will add about 300 new officers, as well as support staff. It will see small municipalities such as the Town of Sundre contribute 10 per cent of policing costs in 2020, followed by 15 per cent in 2021, 20 per cent in 2022 and 30 per cent in 2023.
“This now means that we are going to treat this new cost as though it’s a requisition,” said Leslie.
“It’ll be a flow-through cost” similar to other requisitions such as the Alberta School Foundation, he said.
“We’re a collector of that tax for the province. We’ll treat this police cost the same way.”
Council will nevertheless strive to hold any increases in the budget in line with the cost of inflation, the mayor said.
However, he concedes that will require some serious revisions. Asked whether he anticipates increased taxes, reduced services, or drawing from restricted surpluses, the mayor said, “Probably we have to review a combination of all of the above. We’d love to limit any kind of increases.”
That will be a struggle because council has already tasked administration and staff to seek out efficiencies in the operational budget to maintain any increases at inflation, he said.
When asked whether he considers the new police funding formula fair, the mayor said he appreciates that the government at least introduced the cost incrementally. But he was not inclined to "point the finger" in blame.
“That’s not helpful and gets us nowhere,” he said, adding the UCP was elected under a mandate “to make drastic changes” and reduce the provincial government’s costs.
“We have to examine our own house as well.”
When it comes to policing, he said, no one wants to cut back.
“There’s a cost to it. The money comes from somewhere,” he said, adding there's only one taxpayer.
With less than two years until the next municipal election, the mayor said voters expect their representatives to look over the budget line by line, while challenging staff to make the most out of every dollar.
“We may have to reduce services if people aren’t excited in paying more by way of property taxes,” he said.
But the process is still in its early stages, he said, adding there should be a means test for municipalities that are struggling.
“That’s lacking in all of this,” he said.
Additionally, changes to taxation on cannabis producers approved by the province could potentially generate some income. However, factoring in the cost of policing could neutralize that new revenue stream, he said.
As part of the police funding model, the province is creating a new Alberta Police Advisory Board. Municipal leaders will be able to advise the board on local needs.
Under the plan, the number of uniformed patrol officers in rural detachments will increase to about 1,900.
The UCP says the new policy will make Alberta’s communities safer; the official Opposition calls it a massive download on rural residents.
Chris Albert, Sundre’s director of corporate services, said the municipality had received some initial information from Alberta’s justice department outlining estimated costs.
“They have given us some preliminary calculations,” Albert said last week during a phone interview.
In 2020, the anticipated cost Sundre will be expected to contribute is $56,573, or $21 per capita on a population of 2,729. The following year, the expense will rise to $84,920, or $31 per capita. In 2022, the rate will increase to $113,146, or $41 per capita. Finally, by 2023, the amount will jump to almost $170,000, or $62 per capita, he said.
“It is a big cost, and we’re recognizing that.”
While these are estimates based on figures provided by the province, Albert said he did not expect any substantial changes going forward. While the government did decide to delay the required payment of the actual funds for 2020, that could instead potentially mean that two payments will be due in 2021, he said.
“Currently, our philosophy is that this is a cost that is being downloaded from another entity,” he said.
“It does not reflect any additional services that are being provided by the town.”
As the cost will likely be handled similar to other provincial requisitions, the police funding will “be a flow-through rate on individual accounts and properties, similar to school funding,” he said.
That means taxation.
“It would be an increase on property taxes — it’s levied through the property tax process.”
Administration and council see the new expense as a big cost to the local taxpayer, and will make every effort to explore opportunities to reduce that burden, he said.
“If we can mitigate that cost to taxpayers, we will absolutely do what we can.”
-With files from Dan Singleton
