(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Alessia Proietti

More staff for land annexation

Red Deer still holding $9.6 million for RCMP retroactive pay contract increases

Dec 1, 2022 | 10:01 AM

The City of Red Deer confirmed on Tuesday they are still holding $9.6 million in retroactive pay for the RCMP union settlement.

At day two of the 2023-24 budget deliberations, administration and council discussed the current status of municipal policing services.

The RCMP union contract settlement was finalized in 2021 with advice from the federal government to prepare for a 2.5 per cent yearly retroactive pay from January 2017 to December 2021, according to the City’s Municipal Policing Services Manager Bart Rowland.

Increasing each year, the City says they have not received an invoice or insight on how and when the costs will need to be paid, or if the Canadian Government will be covering a portion.

They say they are now holding the $9.6 million in an accrued liability fund.

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Councillor Vesna Higham questioned whether the City should “sit” on the money and should follow up with the federal government for an update.

The contract increase is 3.5 per cent for the following two years, with roughly $789,000 in 2023 and $1,049,000 in 2024 for current staff.

The City says the current agreement with the Government of Canada is to provide up to 174 uniformed positions, however, there is currently a 9.8 per cent vacancy factor, with actual staffing between 157 to 160 positions on average. City officials say transfers will always create a four per cent vacancy factor.

Tara Lodewyk, City Manager, said the City intends to hire 4.59 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employees over the next two years for Municipal Policing, specifically 2.08 in 2023 and 2.51 in 2024.

An FTE is a measure of hours rather than a measure of people, with one FTE typically representing 1,950 hours of work.

The current proposed budget increases are roughly $1.2 million and $1.6 million for 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Lodewyk says the FTEs will be to maintain the RCMP’s current level of service by hiring a court stenographer and staff to support exhibits and police watch.

The funding would also be used for hiring two RCMP members, one community peace officer and other support staff for the potential annexation of the land north of the Queen’s Industrial Business Park and west of Highway QEII.

READ: Red Deer wants to expand: land annexation north of city

Lodewyk confirmed the hope is for the annexation to be complete by September 2023 when the municipal policing will be needed. A public open house is scheduled for Dec. 8, 2022.

She said over the past few years, three innovative ideas have come to municipal policing in Red Deer. The City was selected by the province for a pilot project in 2018 to create a downtown policing unit where community peace officers addressed certain criminal code enforcements, freeing RCMP officers to respond to more urgent matters.

READ: New downtown policing unit launches in Red Deer

She says enhanced RCMP member training proactively focused on crimes using modern technology for better investigative results. Lastly, she says a mindset of relationship building between RCMP officers and municipal policing services has improved public trust.

According to the City, 25 per cent of yearly expenses go towards public safety in municipal policing and emergency services.