Starting April 1, small towns across the province will be paying a higher rate for the service of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Government of Saskatchewan announced an eight per cent increase to the RCMP policing costs of urban municipalities with populations of less than 5,000.
This means an increase of $4.20 per capita for communities with an RCMP detachment and $2.60 for a community without a detachment. Currently, rates are $52.45 per capita for communities with a detachment and $32.45 for a community without.
The rate paid by municipalities had to be raised because the current fee structure has not changed since 2006. "The cost of policing throughout the province has increased by 57 per cent," said Yogi Huyghebaert, provincial correction, public safety and policing minister. "In 2011-12, the province spent $149.7 million to support RCMP policing, including $62.7 million to provide policing to municipalities under 5,000 people."
"Urban governments understand the cost of policing is rising and an eight per cent increase is not unreasonable," said Rolly Zimmer, the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association's vice-president of towns.
"When these new rates are implemented, councils will be a quarter of the way into their budget year," noted Zimmer. The change in budgeting "could result in urban governments managing deficits, consultation should have occurred before the start of a new fiscal year." Zimmer also said the government did not provide any consultation with SUMA about the increase and the government has not indicated to the body if the increases will be annual.
The news of an increase for policing costs did not sit well with Stoughton mayor Heather Balon-Barmann. "This is not favourable for us. We're trying to hold the line on taxes. We have new subdivisions going up and we have infrastructure problems like anywhere else. Also, we have been on a boil water advisory for three years. So this is not good for us."
Radville mayor Shirley Cancade said the increase "will definitely affect how we look at things" in terms of policing. She added that eight per cent "is a big increase and I don't know what we will do."
For Ogema mayor Wayne Myren it was "pretty hard to respond" to a question about an increase in the town's policing budget. "I mean can we afford it, I don't know. I just don't know how to respond, prices seem to be going up for everything."
Myren questioned why the cost increase was only on communities under 5,000. "I understand it takes a larger police force in a larger place, but (the RCMP) don't need to do all that much out here."
The lack of RCMP presence was also noted by Radville mayor Cancade. She "hopes to see more of (the RCMP)" so the town will be able to cover their increased cost for their services. The mayor was quick to point out that an increase in RCMP presensen "would be happening any time soon."
According to Stoughton mayor Balon-Barmann, the policing increase will be "just another thing to put on the general population." This is because additional cost will be put on the taxes of the average citizen.
"It is like everything else, we will not have another option. We will have to suck it up and pay," said Balon-Barmann.
Ogema mayor Myren would prefer if the RCMP based their pay rate on two criteria, population and usage. In this scenario, a town such as Ogema would pay less for RCMP services because their usage of the police service is relatively low.
However, such a system way not be the best system for other towns. Stoughton has experienced a jump in smaller crimes as the town grows. "We're in the middle of the oil boom. There has been a rise in crimes like drunk driving and things like that, so that is why the RCMP is so important for our community," Balon-Batermann stated.
An increase in a growing town's policing budget will affect the budgets of these towns. Stoughton has grown by 6.3 per cent in the past five years, Radville by 8.4 per cent, and Ogema by 21.1 per cent. These towns are having to deal with a myriad of additional infrastructure costs to help them deal with this growth.
"We're all struggling to find money for infrastructure right now. We need to be sharp on these price increases, so we can have good infrastructure for the new people here," said Myren.
