The cost of maintaining law and order in Oro-Medonte continues to rise.
Shawn Binns, chief administrative officer for the township, broke the news to residents Wednesday during the township’s council meeting when he announced the municipality's total cost of policing is expected to increase by almost $660,000 or about 25 per cent next year.
“This increase equates to over a three per cent tax increase before we even start the budget process in terms of level of services,” Binns said. “We have a number of challenges ahead of us.”
The news of the police services increase comes only a few weeks after Oro-Medonte Deputy Mayor Peter Lavoie told residents that Simcoe County is proposing a tax levy of two per cent to support the provincially mandated asset management plan.
“The county ended up $90 million short — or 10 per cent — of their budget based on the asset management plan, so there will be effects in this township and all other townships,” Lavoie said at the township’s Sept. 25 meeting.
“They are also proposing a further 1.5 to 2.5 per cent for general revenue,” he added.
According to Binns’ presentation of the Ontario Provincial Police’s (OPP) 2025 annual billing statement to the township, Oro-Medonte residents will be on the hook for an additional $660,000 for policing next year.
The 2025 base service cost, which includes costs related to proactive policing (routine patrols, crime prevention, training, administration, etc.) and is based on a rolling four-year average, is expected to increase $293,411.
Calls for service are calculated using a four-year rolling average cost. The municipality’s calls for service cost is a proportionate share of the total cost of municipal calls for service costs calculated for the province. Oro-Medonte calls for service costs are expected to increase $120,221 in 2025.
Municipalities are billed for overtime resulting from occurrences in their geographic area and a portion of overtime that is not linked specifically to a municipality, such as training. Overtime costs for Oro-Medonte are expected to increase $19,705.
Municipalities foot the costs for court security and prisoner transportation, which are expected to increase $6,047 in 2025 and are based on the cost of the staff required to provide designated court security activities. Prisoner transportation costs are charged to all municipalities based on the standard province-wide per property cost.
Accommodation/cleaning services will rise $9,667.
The year-end adjustment is expected to be $209,965, the difference between the amount billed based on the estimated cost.
According to Binns, the biggest driver of the OPP increase is salary and benefits.
“The 2023 and 2024 cost estimates were prepared prior to the ratification of the Ontario Provincial Police Association collective agreement using existing 2022 salary rates and applying a 1 per cent increase per year,” he said. “These estimated increases were in line with legislation in force at the time.”
Binns said the increase has significant implications not only for Oro-Medonte but for all municipalities in Simcoe County.
BarrieToday reached out to officials in Springwater and Essa townships to inquire about their 2025 police costs.
Springwater will be discussing the topic when the proposed 2025 budget is tabled at the Nov. 6 council meeting. BarrieToday didn’t hear back from Essa officials before this article was published.
Oro-Medonte Mayor Randy Greenlaw said the news was not well received by county council.
“Believe me, at county, everybody is outraged about this,” he said. “We will address our concerns to the province on how all this downloading can be sustained.”
Greenlaw acknowledged the increase is concerning and provides the township with some unexpected challenges.
“We will do our best to take a balanced approach so it’s not all being dumped on our residents right out of the gate,” he said.
Binns’ report noted that the township has proactively established a police service reserve fund which has a balance of approximately $500,000.
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