Wellington County council has deferred signing a new OPP contract until new provincial billing procedures are put in place.
Council voted to delay signing a new contract with the OPP at its meeting on Oct. 31.
Warden Chris White said delaying the new contract will allow council to see what proposals the province and OPP will be making on the new billing model.
“We’re waiting for the province to make the first step,” White said.
A new billing formula is being explored by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Affairs, the OPP and municipalities with which it has contracted services.
Delaying the contract renewal is not expected to impact wage contract talks between the ministry, OPP and Wellington County.
The county’s five-year contract with the OPP is set to expire at the end of this year. Wages have been frozen for the past two years and the province has indicated OPP officers will see an 8.55 per cent increase in their new contract.
Wellington OPP employs 111 constables and 12 administrative and civilian personnel, according to detachment commander Inspector Scott Lawson.
“Contract talks and discussions are ongoing for the OPP and will be handled over the fall,” county treasurer Ken DeHart said in an earlier statement to the Advertiser.
“Preliminary estimates have the OPP salaries increasing by 8.55% in 2014 (to match the salary of the highest paid police service in Ontario – a provision built into the last provincial contract).”
The county paid slightly more than $15 million for OPP services in 2011, over $16.1 million in 2012 and has a budget estimate of $16.61 million this year.
“The county does not control salary negotiations with the OPP; that is handled by the province,” DeHart said.
It was expected that part of local negotiations would include an OPP request for two additional officers.
County councillor and police services board member Ray Tout said it is not clear whether two new officers will be hired after county council decided to disband its mounted unit, freeing up two officers for frontline duty.
The board is charged with overseeing the OPP contract – to a limited extent.
“The PSB controls some of the service levels,” DeHart has said.
Agreement not in question
“For the last several years the county has been hiring two new uniformed officers … to keep up with service levels and a growing population. The PSB has to ability to change that.
“Since the county owns and operates most of the OPP buildings, the PSB has some control over the cost of those facilities.”
White told county council the agreement with the OPP is not in question.
“I think most of us have been happy with our contract,” the warden said. “We’re going to go one more year with what we have and we’ll see what the contract is.”
Tout said once billing talks are completed, extending the current OPP contract is essential.
“We want to make sure [our costs] don’t go up,” Tout added. “This funding model is very controversial. We have to make sure we’re not being hammered by the province.”
Councillor Gord Tosh, chairman of the county social services committee, said similar discussions within other provincial ministries has resulted in higher costs at the local level.
The billing review is being undertaken after the current billing model was found not to offer clear guidelines for how the OPP bills municipalities with which it has contracts, as well as with outside municipalities with their own police service that require OPP assistance.
Correctional Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur said the government is working on concerns raised by municipal organizations such as the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
“We listened to the needs of our municipal partners and we are working together to support community safety, including police service delivery that is fiscally responsible, transparent and sustainable for the people of Ontario,” Meilleur said in a recent media release.
“We will also be seeking input on the most appropriate way to phase in the new billing model to ensure municipalities have the same time to plan for implementation.”
Councillor Lynda White, who was the previous chair of the police services board, said county ratepayers “are very well policed.”
