‘Digging their heels in’
Three Rivers not getting a fair shake for provincial police funding, CAO says
Three Rivers’ isn’t getting a fair shake from the province when it comes to municipal police funding, the town’s chief administrative officer said.
Jill Walsh brought her concerns up during the town’s monthly council meeting on April 27, which was held via video conference.
Under the municipal funding agreement, Three Rivers currently receives a tax credit from the province toward a few of its services, she said.
“(It is) based on what services you provide and what level of services you provide,” Walsh said in a follow-up interview on May 11. “One of the categories is policing.”
Three Rivers has an extended service agreement with the province for one RCMP officer to cover the region. The credit is therefore issued based on this level of service as well as Montague’s average non-commercial assessment, which amounts to about 7.6 cents per $100 of assessment.
However, this isn’t taking into account the amalgamation of Three Rivers in 2018, which combined communities like Montague, Georgetown and Cardigan into one municipality, she said.
“We stand to gain $337,000 based on this year’s assessment, if they were to pay us for all of Three Rivers instead of just the Town of Montague.”
That funding could be used for go towards additional police services in the municipality.
Although the process could be as simple as signing a new contract under the name, Three Rivers, the provincial representatives Walsh has dealt with have been “digging their heels in”. The contract doesn’t say the province can pick and choose what parts of the municipality the credit is applied to, she said.
“They’re treating us differently than the contract says we should be treated,” she said. “They’re not treating us fairly.”
In order to continue, the province requested that council provide a written proposal to be recognized as Three Rivers or to possibly sign a new contract.
Many councillors voiced their support, so Walsh’s recommendation will hopefully be resolved at a future meeting, she said.