Owen Sound City Hall. (Photo by Claire McCormack. July 2024)
A report about staff background work on the OPP costing process is being referred to a city committee in Owen Sound.
Council passed a recommendation during its meeting Monday to refer an update report from City Manager Tim Simmonds on OPP costing to the resilient community advisory committee in 2027.
Police services in the Scenic City are provided by the municipal force, Owen Sound Police.
There is no formal police costing process currently underway in Owen Sound, but council asked staff in July to bring back information on the steps required to obtain an OPP costing estimate.
Simmonds told councillors city representatives and Mayor Ian Boddy met with Solicitor General Michael Kerzner during last month’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa.
“The discussion was open, positive, and constructive. The Mayor emphasized that council’s interest is not about criticizing or speaking negatively about the (Owen Sound Police Service). Council recognizes and appreciates the professionalism, commitment, and important role that community policing provides within Owen Sound,” Simmonds says in his report. “Rather, the discussion focused on council’s responsibility to understand the long-term financial sustainability of all major municipal services and to ensure it has the information necessary to evaluate future options should it choose to do so.”
“Council’s interest is therefore centered on affordability and long-term sustainability, rather than the quality of policing services currently being provided,” Simmonds continues in his report. “This perspective is consistent with benchmarking information previously reviewed by Council through the BMA Annual Report, which identified policing costs in Owen Sound as being significantly higher than several comparable municipalities, including communities served by the OPP. One community, Collingwood, was used as an example in the discussion and represents a nearly $3-million difference in costs for policing.”
Owen Sound’s budget for police services in 2026 is $9.5-million, according to a city document.
Simmonds told councillors Monday the solicitor general advised the city to continue engaging with Owen Sound’s police services board, and ensure council has a thorough understanding of both the costs and revenues of the current policing model.
“In particular, the solicitor general encouraged the city to engage further with the Owen Sound Police Services board to better understand the financial contribution of dispatch operations, and review opportunities for contractual service agreements with neighbouring municipalities,” Simmonds says. “His view was understanding those opportunities as essential, because they would not exist under an OPP model.”
Simmonds says the city formally asked the province about the steps required for a municipality currently served by a municipal police service to obtain an OPP costing assessment, and about data, resolutions and engagement required before one is undertaken. The city also asked the province about timelines and key decision points from an initial inquiry to expected completion of a costing assessment, and best practices from Ontario municipalities that have completed a similar review.
“A formal response is not anticipated for several months, and may not be received until early in the new year,” Owen Sound’s city manager says.
Owen Sound should already be familiar with the OPP costing process; the city received an OPP costing in 2017 and retained a consulting firm to compare costs between Owen Sound Police and a switch to the provincial police service. City council decided then to stick with Owen Sound Police.
Coun. Melanie Middlebro’ says she and Deputy Mayor Scott Greig met recently with Owen Sound Police Chief Craig Ambrose and Police Services Board Chair John Thomson, and “it’s clear from both sides we have a lot of work to do repairing the relationship between the police board and council, sharing information and getting on the same page for how policing in the city can move forward with a shared agenda.”
“I think pushing this to 2027 with the new committee structure is the right thing to do,” Middlebro’ continues. “Then the new council can have its say.”
Coun. Brock Hamley adds: “I do think it is a question for the next council. But council has an obligation to make sure taxpayers are receiving good value for every service they pay for. And policing is one of the largest items in the city budget, so it should not be exempt from that. Getting an OPP costing commits the city to absolutely nothing. Asking what an alternative would cost is not the same thing as deciding to pursue that alternative.”