EDMONTON—Small-town mayors say Alberta’s new rural police funding model will force them to raise taxes.

Alberta Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer announced Wednesday that small and rural communities will start paying for RCMP in 2020. Until now, policing costs have been covered by provincial and federal governments for communities with populations under 5,000.

Those communities will start paying 10 per cent of their policing costs next year, 15 per cent in 2021, 20 per cent in 2022 and 30 per cent in 2023.

“It’s going to have to be made up someplace, and we don’t believe we have enough services that we could cut to cover it. So taxes and utilities have to go up to cover it,” Redwater mayor Mel Smith said.

He said the costs will equate to about $262,000 a year by 2023 for his town of 2,300 residents northeast of Edmonton.

That means a 10-per cent tax hike.

“It’s troublesome. They’re just downloading,” Smith said.

“None of the small communities can afford it.”

Schweitzer said the change will lay down a stable foundation for policing in rural communities and said the phase-in approach will give municipalities time to adjust.

But Wally Yachimetz, mayor of Calmar – a town of about 2,200 southwest of Edmonton – said the added costs will mean a reduction of services elsewhere.

“More than likely there’s going to be an increase (in taxes). Unfortunately, it’s going to be passed along to the rate payer,” Yachimetz said.

He said by the time Calmar is paying 30 per cent in 2023, the town might have to consider launching its own police service like Taber, Camrose and Lacombe.

“If it’s going to cost us the same kind of dollar, and we’ve got 24-hour, 7-day a week coverage as compared to spot service, it’s a better investment for your money,” he said. “That’s something we’ll have to look at in the future.”

Bon Accord mayor David Hutton said the change is “going to increase our taxes quite a bit” in the town of 1,500 north of Edmonton.

The province also announced a $286-million boost in police funding Wednesday, with more than $200,000 coming from the province and municipalities and $86,000 from the federal government, that’s expected to fund 500 new RCMP members in rural Alberta.

Schweitzer said the funds would bring the total number of front-line rural officers from about 1,600 to about 1,900, with the additional positions going to other areas like support staff, technical expertise, call centre management and other specialized units.

He also announced a new Alberta Police Advisory Board that will see municipal officials work more closely with local law enforcement.

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“We are fixing a police funding system that we are told has been broken,” Schweitzer said.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said the new money will enhance police visibility and response times, while bolstering forensic identification and serious crimes investigations.

“I’ve heard from rural Albertans, and they’ve seen first-hand that the need for increased policing resources has never been greater,” he said.

“The kind of crime we’re seeing across Alberta isn’t just petty crime. It includes serious and dangerous offences like armed robberies, serious assaults, auto thefts.”

Alberta Urban Municipalities Association president Barry Morishita said he was “very pleased” with the announcement, particularly the increased local accountability.

“We think there’s no better model than what’s been presented in terms of having equity in the funding. We think everybody that pays should have a say in what goes forward,” Morishita said.

Schweitzer held town halls in more than 40 municipalities earlier this year to discuss rural crime.

Many rural Albertans say crime, specifically property crime, has spiked in the last five years, coinciding with the recession. Most say drugs are the main driver.

Some, like Smith, have launched volunteer groups that work with police by patrolling and reporting suspicious activity.

Police numbers don’t reflect an ongoing rise in crime, but some residents – and Schweitzer – say that’s because people have lost faith in the justice system and stopped reporting crimes.

The province has announced a string of rural crime changes in recent weeks including Bill 27, which creates harsher penalties for trespassing and makes it harder to sue if a trespasser or injured or killed by someone protecting their property.

Alberta also plans to give additional responsibilities to sheriffs and fish and wildlife officers – in some cases the power to respond to 911 calls – under a new Rapid Alberta Provincial Integrated Defence Force strategy launching next fall.

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