The Town of Osoyoos is expecting to see an increase of more than 250 per cent to their police budget after hitting the 5,000 mark in their population.
At that population milestone, the municipal share of policing costs leaps to 70 per cent from 30 per cent, meaning the township will be paying for six RCMP members in 2019, while the province will foot the bill of three members.
According to a staff report, that will shift the town’s policing costs to $953,407 annually, up from $376,000 previously.
The town has agreed with the province to pay for five members for three-quarters of 2017 and all of 2018, at a cost of $637,500 for 2017 and $850,000 for 2018.
The town will then jump to six town-funded RCMP members, with another three provincially funded — moving Osoyoos from eight RCMP members total to nine.
The leap in costs come after an appeal of the census population for Osoyoos, which placed the new population at 5,050 residents of the town, down from 5,085 in the initial census release.
Town council voted in favour of the change this week.
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dustin.godfrey@pentictonwesternnews.com
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