Goderich town council is considering asking the County of Huron for help in paying for OPP security when it comes to dealing with a funding shortfall for court security.
In a report delivered to council during Monday’s meeting, CAO Janice Hallahan explained that Goderich would be short by $142,182 this year to cover the disproportionate costs for the Court Security and Prisoner Transportation funding.
Although lower-tier municipalities in Huron County use the County courthouse in Goderich, and as a result the town actually covers a higher amount of the costs in their agreement with the Ontario Provincial Police.
The services were delegated from the Province of Ontario in 1999, and were supposed to have a neutral budget.
Hallahan says that that’s not the case. Ontario is the only province that puts a heavier financial burden on the host community for a county’s court security services.
She adds that using the 2024 County of Huron taxes that are given back to the municipality, Goderich gets 9.95%.
Using that rate to apply to how much Goderich should pay would only be $13,635.25. However, the anticipated costs for 2024 total net CSPT costs, minus the town’s 9.95% amount, should cost the county $128,546.75.
In order to cover the shortfall, Hallahan outlined options for the town:
1. Receive a lump-sum transfer from the upper-tier to offset a portion of the overall costs, therefore reducing the impact on the town’s finances.
2. Billing individually to the balance to each of the lower-tier municipalities in the county.
3. Establishing a special tax levy for the Court Security and Prisoner Transportation costs to support the services provided in the region.
Hallahan also pointed that back on July 25 of this year, Owen Sound and Grey County entered into a cost-sharing agreement for the OPP to provide services under the CSPT program, which will officially start on January 1st, 2025.
Once Hallahan finished her report, Mayor Trevor Bazinet shared that he had previously spoken with Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy and learned about the city’s success in asking the county for their fair share.