A large northern portion of Ontario is made up of unorganized townships. The residents living in unorganized townships do not pay to be policed by the OPP.
Whitewater Region Township council, as do other municipalities, want that changed.
“We are trying to find out how many unorganized townships there are,” said chief administrative officer Christine FitzSimons at last Wednesday’s council meeting.
Deputy-clerk Hope Dillabough contacted the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to find out how many unorganized territories there are.
“They didn’t have an answer to that question,” CAO Fitzsimons said, adding, “I guess because they’re unorganized.”
An unorganized territory is defined, “As an area of the province, generally in northern Ontario, where there is no region-wide level of government.”
CAO FitzSimons provided a map of Ontario showing the split between organized and unorganized townships, which is the top portion of Ontario.
Mayor Hal Johnson said he has asked the OPP to come to a township committee or council meeting to bring council members “up to speed on what the 60/40 billing and household charges will be.”
He noted the system is the same whether it’s a matter at the Pembroke mall or a little old lady across the road, they will each be charged the same, because it’s one roof, despite how large it is.
Councillor Charlene Jackson, who is the treasurer for Laurentian Valley, said there will be a flat rate charged for each category, whether it be residential, business, commercial, etc.
She believes the cost is $203 for each property and the township is then charged for each incident. As an example, she said if there’s a break and enter, the OPP will associate so many hours of an officer’s time and so many officers.
If there’s a murder, there’s much more officers’ time billed, she added.
The bill comes to the municipality, which pays it. How the municipality divvies up the bill, is up to council to decide, Coun. Jackson said.
“How we as a township bill the residents is up to us,” she said. “Some municipalities are actually breaking out that tax levy from the overall general levy and saying it’s an OPP levy. So, that would mean you get the general municipal levy to raise this much money and then do another tax rate calculation and it would be an OPP levy. This is similar to the street light costs per area we have now.”
Mayor Johnson said the 40 per cent billed for individual residents can also get expensive. It will require a lot of training and education of our people to cut down on calling 911 for incidents where the OPP are not required, he stated
As an example, he said when there is a domestic dispute, the OPP bills for 17 hours, which also includes two officers to respond.
Coun. Jackson agreed. Calling the OPP for someone who is suffering from a mental illness, is not the way to go, she said.
“The OPP is not able to respond in a proper manner for mental issues,” she added. “All they’re going to do is lock the person up, which doesn’t resolve anything.
“If you know a person has an issue, or another type of illness, call the proper public agency.
“Then, we’re not getting billed by the OPP if they aren’t called.”
Coun. Jackson added, “The public must be advised that each time the police are called, it is a cost to the municipality.”
The increase could mean a huge expenditure for some municipalities, but the OPP have agreed it should be no more than a five per cent increase over what each municipality paid in 2014, she said.
Treasurer Marsha Hawthorne noted in 2014, the municipality was charged $56,827 each month for service by the OPP. In 2015, that amount is expected to increase to $64,628 each month. The township is billed for 3,609 properties.
When talking about the motion, Mayor Johnson said the overall intent of it is to ask that each unorganized municipality pick up a portion of the OPP bill instead of getting that service for free.
“That means, that instead of us paying $1.2 million, we could pay only $600,000,” he said. “If it belongs to the Ontario government, the Ontario government needs to pick up that share.”
Councillor Chris Olmstead asked how many residents live in the unorganized township area, but CAO FitzSimons said that hasn’t been discovered yet.
When looking at the crime in the township, Mayor Johnson said, “The crime rate in Whitewater Region is almost the same as the inside of most churches.
“We are paying for something that is horrendously expensive for what we need,” Mayor Johnson said.
Due to the high cost of policing, Councillor Dave Mackay questioned if it would be feasible for Renfrew County to have its own police force.
That would involve extraordinary expenses, said Mayor Johnson, and that would take a lot of time and effort.
“We have to start lobbying the Ontario government right away,” he said.
The motion to have the resolution that unorganized townships pick up their fair share of the OPP budget was approved.
