The Alberta government is capping the cost of policing services in rural Alberta — for one year.
Rural leaders say while the temporary relief is great news, it doesn’t address the overall lack of policing resources in their communities.
While mayors and reeves of several municipalities were discussing a range of social issues at the Rural Municipalities of Alberta convention in Edmonton on Wednesday, many were learning about the province’s next steps in addressing policing and how to pay for it.
The province says it will temporarily freeze the cost increase that rural municipalities were responsible for paying for policing.
The province is responsible for providing policing services to municipal districts, counties and urban municipalities with populations under 5,000 people.
In response to rising rural crime, the Alberta government announced increased funding for RCMP services in 2019. Then in 2020, the province introduced the Police Funding Regulation model, where municipalities contributed to policing costs.
Each year, municipalities would pay an increasing share: 10 per cent starting April 1, 2020, then increased to 15 per cent one year later, 20 per cent the following year and finally 30 per cent starting April 1, 2023.
“It was huge on our budget,” said Jim Wood, the mayor of Red Deer County. “And the thing is, it was a download, we feel, from the province of Alberta in the first place.”
The Alberta government said by splitting the costs, they were able to afford to recruit new RCMP police officers and enhance other services.
But some RMA members don’t think so, explaining they haven’t seen any benefits in their communities since the funding model was introduced.
“We believe policing is important. Rural crime is a big deal. But we want to make sure that if we’re paying for something, we’re getting the service that we’re asking for,” said Paul McLauchlin, the president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta.
McLaughlin believes rural leaders should be more involved in how funds for policing are used.
“Money was leaving municipalities but there was no performance measure or any other policy piece tied to that. We want to make sure that if we are paying for that, we’re actually seeing boots-on-the-ground results.”
Now, the province said due to higher expenses due to new RCMP collective agreements, the cost for policing in these smaller communities will increase to 39 per cent, with no corresponding increase in the services provided.
So for the next year, the province said it’s freezing the funding model it can take time to review things and make improvements.
“The provincial government is going to be picking up the tab of about $27 million,” said Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis.
The freeze on municipal costs will be in effect until March of 2026, during which time the province said it’ll give municipalities time to determine how to cover the increases on a forward basis and what the best model of policing is for their community.