‘Big hit’: B.C. municipalities facing large backpay bill to RCMP – Okanagan | 24CA News
Municipalities throughout B.C. may face 1000’s, if not thousands and thousands in backpay for RCMP companies of their communities.
Some cities say they anticipated the prices years in the past and others are caught looking for methods to provide you with the cash.
The federal authorities is passing on unbudgeted and unaccounted-for RCMP prices to municipalities.
“We’d heard that this might happen for the last couple of years but we were quite surprised to get a bill. We’ve got lots of things on our budget and that wasn’t one of them. It’s going to be a big hit to our budget,” stated Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff.
Communities like Osoyoos are having to pay over $150,000 in retroactive RCMP funds, as its inhabitants grew above 5,000.
“We then had to pay 70 per cent, so knowing that we had put money aside each year to try and cover that. We have to be prepared; that’s why we have a five-year plan and a 10-year plan,” stated McKortoff.
Last 12 months, 20,000 RCMP members signed a collective settlement with retroactive pay going again to 2017, which means communities must pay that again.
However, some Okanagan cities began planning forward years in the past, together with Oliver, the place they raised taxes by 9 per cent.
“We’re using that nine per cent extra revenue extra to spend on capital projects and we did that for five years in a row to get ourselves ahead of capital projects,” stated Oliver Mayor Martin Johanson.
“When all that money had to transition to RCMP we would sort of have a transition period moving forward for a few years where we wouldn’t have to worry about extra taxation.”
Vernon’s mayor Victor Cumming says the quantity they needed to pay for RCMP was increased than initially anticipated, however cash was put away early.
“Policing is a quarter of our tax budget so we know that. It’s in the millions and depending on the year, more than $10 million sneaking up on 12. We’re getting great service, so that’s part of why it’s not a difficult argument for community members,” stated Cumming.
Local mayors say they’ve been lobbying the provincial and federal governments to ease the transition for municipalities with rising populations.
“Your 4,999 it’s 30 per cent, it’s 5,001 it’s 70 per cent and for small communities it is brutal. You’re looking at a $700,000 annual increase in operational costs,” Johanson stated.
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