Province Provides Relief To Municipalities Faced With Significant Increase In OPP Policing Cost

by Bob Montgomery

Municipalities throughout Huron County and the province were looking at an increase in the cost for OPP policing next year, ranging from twenty to twenty-five percent.

For most municipalities that was more than they were prepared for or could afford. So Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan approached Huron-Bruce MPP and Minister of Rural Affairs Lisa Thompson and provided her with copies of the invoices some of the municipalities had received for next year, compared to what they were billed for previous years, to see if she could do anything to reduce the increase.

MacLellan says the province had already tried to help the municipalities but the courts had already made a decision that the billing should proceed. The province stepped up again and it now appears the increase for the 2025 budget will be around three percent. That's a huge relief for most of the municipalities.

MacLellan says he's grateful that Lisa Thompson was able to get the increase reduced and that she was able to do it quickly because all of the municipalities are working on their budgets now. MacLellan says at this point they don't know what the increase will be for the following year but the hope is that any increase will be done gradually over a period of time, rather than what was originally presented to the municipalities.