GUELPH – Salary increases for OPP officers will likely result in tax increases for Wellington County residents.
“We really have no choice in this whatsoever,” councillor Earl Campbell, chair of the Wellington County OPP Detachment Board, said during the Oct. 31 meeting of county council.
Campbell, who was reporting to council on the minutes of the board’s Oct. 9 meeting, described the financial implications of the contract between the Ontario Provincial Police Association and the provincial government.
According to a report to the board by county treasurer Ken DeHart, the county received notice in the summer that new collective agreements had been ratified for uniform and civilian members of the police association, covering a four-year term from Jan. 1, 2023 to Dec. 31, 2026.
“The new agreements included general salary … rate increases of 4.75 per cent (2023), 4.5% (2024) and 2.75% (2025 and 2026,” the report states.
“Additionally, effective Sept. 1, 2024, many OPP detachment front-line constables and sergeants will be receiving an additional 3% front-line patrol premium.”
Campbell explained that because of Bill 124 – legislation introduced by the province to limit public sector wage increases – the county had budgeted for much smaller salary increases for 2023 and 2024.
“Within the existing budgets, there was a one per cent allocation,” he said, explaining that was what the legislation had allowed.
“It was subsequently overturned in the courts,” Campbell said of Bill 124.
The retroactive salary increases have eaten up an positive surplus the county could have expected due to staffing vacancies and other factors, he said.
“We’re projecting a negative variance of only $68,000,” Campbell said, but he noted that historically the variance has been positive.
On top of that, the estimated cost of the OPP contract for 2025 has increased significantly.
DeHart’s report states the 2025 annual billing statement estimates the cost of the contract at $20,375,886.
This year’s contract was estimated at $17.21 million, though the actual total is not yet known.
“This represents an overall cost increase per property of $54.87 or 12.8% over the 2024 billing statement,” it stated.
Campbell called the increase “very, very significant,” saying it amounts to a 2% levy increase for next year.
“The increase in the OPP contract will add approximately 2% to the county tax levy, which is 1.7% higher than previously projected,” the report stated.
“There’s a whole lot of us that are facing the same issue,” Campbell said, noting other municipalities using OPP services are seeing increases in contract costs of as high as 22%.
“It’s not good news. It is the reality,” he said. He added the board will examine what could be done going forward to mitigate the impacts of the increased cost, including reviewing planned enhancements.
Councillor Steve O’Neill stood up to express agreement that all enhancements should be reviewed.
“I think that’s a good idea for the committee to look at that and see if there’s something we’re not using,” O’Neill said.
Little else was said about the OPP contract.
The issue was raised as council discussed costs of other projects, namely the reconstruction the roads garages in Erin and Brucedale.
