When you are looking at what you spend, it’s always helpful to make real time comparisons.
Some people were shocked when the Belleville Police Services Board recently approved a budget for next year with a 15% increase. That led to Mayor Neil Ellis asking them to look it over again before it was re-approved with the same 15% increase on Monday.
This leads some to ask for a costing proposal, which could also lead to a hard look at OPP service, but one thing that line of reasoning leaves out is that OPP costs are also rising quickly.
Yesterday, Quinte West approved their budget next year which included a 12% increase in OPP costs, with municipal officials highlighting a “major” OPP salary adjustment.
Napanee also just issued a release saying that they were going to factor in a 3% increase to fund rising OPP costs. Part of that is speculation based on expected number of calls.
Also, the increase of $475,000 over 2025 levels is only that low because it was capped at 11%.
According to the annual billing statement, the municipality’s costs would have been an additional $694,000. For we math nerds, that would have been just over 16%, very close to the 15% number Belleville Police just approved.
The moral of the story is policing is costly but vital, and municipalities may be better served by working with their police service, than speculating on finding something new in the bargain bin.
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
