NEWS RELEASE
PETER POLITIS, MAYOR OF COCHRANE
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COCHRANE - In August, the province announced the implementation of a new police costing formula to be implemented on January 1, 2015.
The Town of Cochrane, who was one of the first communities to lead the charge for reforms three years ago, will now realize a significant savings as a result.
Of the 320 municipalities policed by the Ontario Provincial Police, the new police billing model sees about 1/3 of them receive an adjustment to costing that will bring costs down, while working toward a more equitable sharing of the overall provincial costs.
Cochrane will be realizing over $445,000 per year directly, while also realizing another $200,000 of local adjustments and efficiencies made by the detachment.
The savings will be equally ramped up to the $445,000 over four years.
Cochrane’s costs will be reduced by over $600,000 when all is said and told.
This is significant considering that Cochrane’s previous policing bill was over $2 million and that every $50,000 in costs represent about a 1 percent tax requirement.
Mayor Peter Politis has been spearheading these reforms for almost three years and is the Chair of the Mayors’ Coalition on Affordable Policing who represent about 160 municipalities.
Mayor Politis had this to say: “Our community was paying 50 cents of every tax dollar we collected to pay for policing alone when we started, which made it one of the largest fiscal threats to our community. Now, we’ll see one of the largest adjustments in the province as a result of a lot of hard work and dedication by many of us, who were not deterred by the size of the challenge but motivated by the necessity of the reforms that were needed”.
Monika Malherbe, Cochrane’s Corporate Services Director spoke to the municipalities view.
“The escalating trend in rising policing costs was very serious and without this kind of drastic change of direction, a significant increase in municipal taxes would have been unavoidable – To say I’m relieved would be an understatement”.
“When I reflect back on where this file started (with the Town threatening to not pay anymore increases) I can’t help but appreciate the outcomes that have been achieved so far. It’s so much more than just the costing adjustment itself; The OPP themselves have done great work in taking responsibility to find efficiencies above the Billing Model. Locally, Commander Demeules and Sergeant Pilon have worked tirelessly to find upward of another $200,000 in savings to the Town over and above the model itself. The relationship between the OPP and the municipality, and municipalities in general, has become so much more collaborative and functional," said Mayor Politis.
"This is important when we consider that we will now be focusing on the actual drivers of policing costs to find even more savings going forward. I want to express my appreciation to everyone from Minister Naqvi and Commissioner Hawkes, down to the local detachment for this historic accomplishment”.
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