Monday, December 04, 2006

Police Costs - Who's Fooling Who?

Sunday's Langley Times says "Langley City is getting better police coverage than the Township, but it’s paying more for it, according to newly-released statistics." LFP says, Balderdash!

Our Township Mayor and Council keep dramatically raising our taxes each and every year now and plan to equally keep doing so for at least the next ten years. Yet not one of the boys on Council has made any concerted attempt to reduce Township costs. Specifically they have made no effort to recoup police costs spent by Township Taxpayers for the benefit of Langley City despite the concerns expressed by only one Councillor, Kim Richter. Richter has even put forward motions to sever the policing arrangements with the City in order to protect the Township taxpayer. These of course have been ignored by the current Mayor and his silent slates.

A study was done 3 or 4 year ago that concluded that the Township was subsidizing Langley City with 7 man years of policing each year. At a then estimated annual cost per officer of $100,000, this equaled a $700,000 subsidy from the Township taxpayers to Langley City each year because the City had a higher crime rate and the Township and the City share a joint RCMP police detachment. The Township finally complained to the city and then Mayor Marlene Grinnell said she would look into it. Since then there have been no further reports to the Township to rectify this inequity.

Each year the Township pays for more cops on the road at a now current cost of $125,000 each per year and each year the Township still does not know when and if they will be paid back for the extra 7 cops or maybe even more cops now, in the City. Hence Township policing costs keep increasing while the crime stats are higher in the city than in the Township. Simple math of 3 years, times 7 cops, times $100,000 cost annually equals at least $2,100,000 subsidized to date ( equivalent to 1/3 of the $3-4-5-6 million Township Grandstand fiasco)! Maybe the City should just turn over their annual casino profits to the Township to rectify this stupid and costly inequity that the existing Township Mayor & Council are asleep at the wheel on.

Meanwhile the much sharper Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender (please Peter run for Township Council Mayor!) is further quoted in the same Langley Times article saying, “It’s not an exact science. Oftentimes a City officer will help out in the Township and vice versa,". Wake up Township Council! These statements mean another many more years of subsidies and a larger repayment that will go by unanswered in this humble LFP Editor's opinion. We last wrote about this in our February 22nd LFP posting as well, to no avail! Meanwhile these bozos on Township Council just keep on cranking up our tax bill each year!
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