The city is proposing charging the specific property owner for any policing clean up costs associated with illegal activity on their property. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Cost of crime

City hopes to recoup police investigation costs from affected property owners

Jun 2, 2020 | 4:57 PM

The City of North Battleford is looking at making the affected property owner pay for associated policing clean up costs when an RCMP investigation into illegal activity happens on his or her property.

The city believes this would help remove the cost burden from North Battleford taxpayers overall.

Mayor Ryan Bater said the cost for this type of policing work can be quite high.

“This is a cost to that specific property that is being paid for by city taxpayers,” he said. “What we would like to have the opportunity to do is to actually charge those homeowners directly.”

The mayor sent a letter to the province requesting the Cities Act be amended to reflect the proposal, so the cost can be added to the specific individual’s tax bill if they don’t pay the fee directly.

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“Without the ability to in the end put it on property tax, the collection can be more difficult,” Bater said. “So this is meant to ensure collection.”

The city believes the proposal will ultimately benefit all city municipal taxpayers in Saskatchewan. The mayor said currently all North Battleford city taxpayers pay for 70 per cent of the cost of each RCMP member’s services. Costs can add up when several RCMP officers are focused on work at a single property where illegal activity occurred. So it would make sense to have the individual property owner pay those costs, instead of all the other taxpayers in the city, he said.

According to the city’s release, the RCMP need to preserve evidence when they remove illegal drugs and weapons from a property during an investigation. The process can require specialized staff and take several days to complete, while the property is being secured. This process is important to be able to prosecute individuals who bring illegal drugs, weapons, and violence into North Battleford, the release said.

Bater said currently homeowners can be charged for fire and utility services costs at their property, depending on the situation. So the city wants to extend this process to fees related to police investigations also.

Council voted in favour of requesting the mayor take the next step by writing a letter to the minister of government relations to formally request the legislative change.

The city also hopes to get support from other cities on the proposal and “start a provincial conversation,” Bater said. “This is an issue that cities throughout Western Canada face.”

When reached by battlefordsNOW about the proposal, leadership from the Battlefords RCMP said it was too early to comment at this time.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW