CANMORE - A combination of factors are pointing toward a significant increase to the Canmore RCMP service budget, with well more than $1 million in added costs to its current $2.8 million budget expected over the next five years.
CANMORE - A combination of factors are pointing toward a significant increase to the Canmore RCMP service budget, with well more than $1 million in added costs to its current $2.8 million budget expected over the next five years.
The reasons for the increase in cost for the federal policing service includes a request from the detachment commander for an additional four officers and two support staff over the next three to five years and cost increases that are the result of Canmore's expected population growth.
Staff Sgt. John Eneas made the request to council recently when he presented the detachment's first multi-year financial plan.
"What we are looking at is an anticipated increase of resources," Eneas said. "In 2019-20 we are looking at one regular member and one support staff."
The new plan sets out the rationale for adding one regular member and one support staff next year for a cost of $178,000, adding another officer in 2020-21 for $116,000 and two officers and another support staff in 2022-23 for $380,500.
Currently, the detachment has a total of 22 staff positions, which includes three support staff the municipality is responsible for funding through its payroll. The last time an officer position was added was in 2008 and was funded from photo radar revenues. Council, as an amendment to its 2018 budget in December, recently increased a part-time support staff position to full time.
The staffing increase request for next year would be for a regular member community resource officer (CRO), which would also take on the role of school liaison for the RCMP.
The CRO would be able to take on community outreach as an RCMP liaison with local business groups and help with committee work, like the municipal police committee, said Eneas.
The following year would see a general investigation section constable added to the roster, increasing GIS members to three. The unit focuses on priorities of serious and organized crime and economic activity.
The two additional officers proposed for 2022-23 would create a municipal traffic section. The report states officers currently spend 10 per cent of their time investigating traffic-related calls for service and having two officers dedicated to fill that role would help with that workload and focus on things like school and playground patrols and seatbelt, distracted and impaired driving enforcement at least once a month.
The total additional cost for the added positions once they are added by 2023 would be $674,000 annually.
The future for policing in the community is something council can expect to cost more, even without increasing staff numbers.
The population of Canmore is expected to reach 15,000 permanent residents for the next federal census in 2021, which means policing cost share agreements with the province change to make the municipality responsible for 90 per cent of the cost. The current cost share has Canmore footing 70 per cent of the bill. The 2018 policing budget was $2.8 million.
According to the RCMP financial report, that would be $660,000 more (in today's dollars) for Canmore taxpayers to pay for the same level of service.
Between the staff request and budget change due to population growth, the added cost to taxpayers is estimated at $1.3 million, an almost 50 per cent increase.
Eneas said currently the Canmore detachment's population ratio is 754 persons per member compared with the average for one per 756 in communities of a similar size.
The criminal code investigations per member for Canmore's detachment is currently 58 offences per member, compared to the division average of 87.
The detachment has seen an increase of total criminal code offences of 21 per cent over five years (991 in 2013 to 1,199 in 2017).
Manager of protective services Greg Burt said the multi-year financial plan is a first for administration and the local detachment to prepare and present.
He told council the report in front of them is for planning purposes only, and does not commit council to increasing the number of staff within the service, which would be a decision made as part of the regular budget process at the end of this year.
"This is the first time we have brought forward a multi-year financial plan for approval; this is being conducted pursuant to our agreement with the RCMP," Burt said. "We did sign an agreement with the RCMP in 2012 and it is a 20-year agreement to provide policing services."
Administration and council have identified the municipal policing cost increase in the future as something to plan for. Part of the $2.7 million surplus was put aside in a tax stabilization reserve fund to help pay for the added financial burden expected that year.
The financial plan also set out some equipment requests the commander has identified for next year, including $40,000 for a digital radio communications connection to the provincial first responders network, $1,881 for Naloxone kits and the possibility of $31,500 and $21,000 for an ion scanner and fume hood, in case officers come into contact with substances like fentanyl and carfentanyl.
