NORTH Vancouver municipal leaders say the devil will be in the details when it comes to whether a new RCMP contract will really give local governments greater control of the purse strings and rising police costs.
"The real question is who really is calling the shots on this," said City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto Thursday, a day after the federal and provincial governments signed a new 20-year RCMP contract.
Mussatto said he's hoping the new contract will give municipalities more control over police costs, but added city staff had only received the documents a few days prior to announcement.
"The biggest issue is cost control," he said. "It's a complex document. We have to go over it."
District of North Vancouver Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn - who is himself a former police officer - said municipalities will only have significant control over police costs if they are given a line-by-line accounting of the budget.
It remains to be seen if a new contract management committee - made up of 10 municipal representatives - will provide greater accountability, he said. There are no North Shore representatives on that committee, made up of appointments made by the Union of B.C. Municipalities.
On Wednesday, provincial Justice Minister Shirley Bond and federal Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews signed the new RCMP 20year contract. Municipalities that contract with the RCMP - including both North Vancouver municipalities - have until the end of April to sign. The agreement will be reviewed every five years and allows parties to opt out with two years' notice.
Bond stressed that under the new agreement, municipal leaders will be consulted on decisions affecting costs before rather than after they are made.
"We will have the opportunity to question costs," including when new buildings and equipment is required, said Bond.
The basic funding formula for the RCMP remains unchanged under the new contract. That means for large municipalities including those in North Vancouver, local taxpayers will still pay 90 per cent of policing costs while the federal government will pay 10 per cent. Municipalities also pay 100 per cent of costs for civilian support staff.
Putting a lid on rising policing costs has been a concern of municipalities across the province.
In the two North Vancouver municipalities, RCMP costs are more than $18 million annually - and rising.
"It's a significant cost driver at the city. Police and fire together are a significant chunk of our budget," said Mussatto.
It's the same story at the district, said MacKay-Dunn.
"The two major drivers are police and fire, and they're way up there."
Most policing costs are in labour. Although crime statistics are falling, the processing of criminal complaints - including the necessary paperwork and administrative back-up - has become much more complicated in the past decade, said MacKay-Dunn.
"When I was a police officer you could process an impaired driver in an hour and a half," he said. Now it can take an entire shift.
Policing costs will continue to rise, provincial officials acknowledged Wednesday. In 2012/13, RCMP costs shared among municipalities with populations of more than 15,000 will go up $2.35 million.
One area where local governments can expect relief is the cost of specialized integrated RCMP units, including the Lower Mainland's homicide unit. Those units were previously funded 90 per cent by municipalities and only 10 per cent by the federal government. Under the new agreement, Ottawa will pay 30 per cent of the homicide unit and will be looking at similar arrangements for other specialized squads.
MacKay-Dunn said costs of those units - which increased each year - have been a particular concern on the North Shore, where local governments questioned whether their taxpayers have been subsidizing high-crime areas like Surrey, which make significantly more use of the units.
