Sechelt council has given approval in principle to next year’s policing complement for the district, which won’t see any more members added to the ranks.
Council wrote a letter to the Federal Treasury Board stating 11 officers are needed in 2018 at a cost of $1.42 million, during Sechelt’s June 7 regular council meeting.
Add to that Sechelt’s share of costs ($187,580) related to specialized teams from Vancouver that can be called upon by the RCMP detachment when necessary, and Sechelt expects to pay $1.62 million for policing next year.
This year’s cost to the district was $1.69 million, due in part to an underfunding of the previous year’s budget that had to be topped up.
Because the municipality has between 5,000 and 15,000 residents, it has to pay 70 per cent of its policing costs yearly. The federal government pays the remaining 30 per cent and requires a letter of support for Sechelt’s portion of the bill several months in advance, which is why council dealt with the issue on June 7.
In total, the Sunshine Coast RCMP detachment has 35 officers, 11 of whom are partially funded through Sechelt’s annual budget.
In Gibsons, where the population has not yet reached 5,000, the Town is charged a “small fee” for policing, according to Gibsons director of finance Ian Poole. “In 2017 we paid about $342,000 for policing, which for a population of 4,600, equates to about $75 per capita,” he said.
