But the city has no additional plans to hire more RCMP officers as council deferred the planning hiring of two new RCMP members to the supplementary budget, a kind of wish list. Fulfilling this wish for more policing could cost the city almost $500,000.But the city will have to pay more than $400,000 in retroactive RCMP pensions — a fact which angered Kimberley. “Why can’t the federal government pick up this cost?” he asked.
Local MP Stockwell Day, who heads the RCMP as public safety minister, said the issue will come up when the federal government starts renegotiating the policing contract with British Columbia.
The proposed tax increase of 5.74 per cent is also up for discussion. Kimberley said council will try to lower this figure once it starts debating the budget next month.
Editorial Dec 19First, some of the items within the budget should not be the city’s responsibility in the first place, such as retroactive RCMP pension payments. We do not believe that the city should be held responsible for past mismanagement at a higher level of government. The city also faces ongoing restrictions on how it can use federal gas tax funds. These strings need to be cut as soon as possible.
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