City of Duncan to pay for policing costs as population surpasses 5,000

The RCMP logo is pictured on a police cruiser. (File photo)

The City of Duncan, B.C., is now on the hook for police funding, now that its population has risen above 5,000, based on the latest national census data.

Duncan has a population of 5,047, according to census information released on Feb. 9, up from 4,944 in 2016.

With the city surpassing the 5,000 residents mark, the municipality is required to pay for 70 per cent of RCMP policing costs, with the federal government covering the remaining 30 per cent. Previously, the province was covering the municipality's contribution.

The city notes that if it were to switch to a municipal police force, it would be responsible for 100 per cent of policing costs

POLICE FUNDING HISTORY

In 2009, the city began paying for policing costs since the province estimated that Duncan had surpassed 5,000 residents at the time.

However, census data collected in 2011 found that the population was 4,932. So, in 2012, B.C. refunded the municipality for the roughly three years it paid for policing costs for a total of approximately $1,351,519.

When the city thought it was on the hook for policing costs in 2009, it increased taxes to cover the expense. When Duncan received the refund in 2012, city council decided to keep charging the extra taxes "as if the city was directly paying for police," and created a reserve fund called the "Police Bridging Capital" levy.

That levy has since been used to fund capital projects in the community, such as upgrading the Duncan Fire Hall, improving local parks, and repairing infrastructure.

With the city finally rising above 5,000 residents, the municipality says it will phase out the Police Bridging Capital levy and replace it with a "Municipal Policing Levy."

Funds leftover in the initial levy – about $3.3 million – may be used to offset tax increases as the city takes over funding for police. However, exact uses of the remaining Police Bridging Capital levy funds have not been finalized yet, with some of the funds already earmarked for capital projects.

ESTIMATED COSTS

Early estimates from the city anticipate that Duncan will need to fund eight officers at a cost of $169,312 per officer. This total includes transportation, training, equipment, administration costs and a portion of the operating costs for the detachment building.

However, the estimates are not finalized, and the city must still negotiate with the province and the Municipality of North Cowichan to determine how many officers will be funded by Duncan, and what the city's proportional contribution to the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment building will be.

"It is important to note that the city paying for policing does not necessarily result in additional RCMP officers at the local detachment," said Peter de Verteuil, Duncan's chief administrative officer, in a release Feb. 9.

"Any RCMP officers that the city becomes responsible for results in a corresponding decrease in the number of officers that the province is responsible for; it is a shift in who is covering the costs."

After negotiations with the province and North Cowichan are complete, Duncan says it will create an updated draft budget for 2022, which will include upcoming tax rates, at a special committee of the whole meeting which will be open to the public.