Council disappointed in lack of federal support for rising RCMP costs

During the Apr. 24, 2023, Council Meeting, Council expressed their disappointment in a lack of support and consultation from the federal government as municipalities across Canada are being faced with massive increases to RCMP policing costs.

Through the last two budget cycles, Council has been challenged with incorporating an additional $414,545 into the Town’s Operating Budgets to account for increases in RCMP pay as outlined in their new collective bargaining agreement.

Now, after months of lobbying by both the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and Alberta Municipalities (ABMunis), the federal government announced in their budget that municipalities will be responsible for the majority of the RCMP retroactive pay raise dating back to 2017.

For Devon, this means Council will have to account for another $247,338 in their budget deliberations this fall for the retroactive pay, as well as other additional costs for body cams and new equipment. These increased costs will impact the Town’s current Three-Year Fiscal Recovery & Service Stabilization Plan which could affect levels of service or the municipal tax rate in the upcoming municipal budget.

For perspective, a 1 per cent municipal tax increase for Devon equals about $62,000 in revenue to the Town which would leave Council looking at a 4 per cent increase alone in the 2024 budget just to offset these retroactive costs. Municipalities are also challenged in their ability to offset these large costs as they are unable to run deficits and have few revenue generating tools.

“We were faced with a huge challenge in our budget last year largely due to increased RCMP costs, which forced us to create a Three-Year Fiscal Recovery and Service Stabilization Plan,” said Mayor Craddock. “This additional $247,388 for retroactive pay will once again play a role in our budgeting this fall, and we are very disappointed that the federal government has not heeded the call of our partners at FCM and ABMunis to provide some needed relief to help cover more of these costs.”

The Town will continue to work with FCM and ABMunis to lobby the federal government for support with these growing costs and to be included in future negotiations that impact the Town.