Midland mayor says premier promises relief for 'absurd' OPP costs

MIDLAND – The OPP sent out billing costs for 2025 services to municipalities across the province, and a report on those increases caused many Midland councillors to consider rejecting the bill.

At a recent committee of the whole meeting, a summary of the OPP standard billing model explained the various factors that resulted in a 26.4 per cent increase of $1.24 million for town policing costs from last year.

Policing costs are spread out across the province, and shares to cover those costs are calculated by populations of municipalities.

The report noted the biggest cost drivers were due to OPP salaries and benefits, an increase of Midland households (as the population of the town increased by nearly 100 households), and a return to pre-pandemic activity levels primarily around calls for service as well as prisoner transportation and court security.

Members of council attempted to understand how the OPP could justify their increased costs by asking town staff for explanations.

Coun. Bill Meridis said that with 2025 town budget discussions coming in the next month, his option would be to decline the OPP bill.

“It’s a ridiculous increase: $1.2 million without any warning, 26 per cent over last year is absolutely devastating to a small community like ours. My stance is no," said Meridis.

Coun. Sheldon East offered a further proposal, suggesting council send a bill for the amount to the provincial and federal governments for putting municipalities in the situation.

The matter was given a deep dive by Mayor Bill Gordon, who reiterated many points shared to residents since the early-October notification had been received.

“There are all kinds of things I could say about this, including: ‘told you so’,” said Gordon, referencing his time as a member of the Midland Police Services and its disbandment in 2018.

“We all knew this was going to happen. We haven’t saved any money; we still owe $3.5 million for the disbandment; any potential savings don’t exist until you pay that cost of disbanding; but it is what it is.”

Of new information, Gordon informed council that he had spoken directly with Premier Doug Ford and was assured that addressing OPP billing costs was a top priority.

“For the just under 400 municipalities that are impacted by these staggeringly absurd increases, I expect to see some relief coming in the next month. I don’t know what that looks like; clearly they weren’t going to tell me other than they said: ‘Bill, it’s coming,’” said Gordon.

Gordon noted that Midland’s courthouse was a factor, despite not having bail hearings, and acknowledged Penetanguishene’s ongoing dispute with the province in being saddled with policing costs as host to the provincial Central North Correctional Centre since 2019.

“For now,” said Gordon, “we have to just accept this as what it is, and it’s going to be about a 4 per cent tax increase for our residents before we even talk about the cost to run the town and all our ABCs (agencies, boards and commissions). It’s scary; we could be looking at double-digit tax increases because of this, through no fault of our own.”

Annual billing model information can be found on the OPP website. However, despite updating in late-October in previous years, 2025 information was not made available at the time of publication with a ‘billing model presentation’ listed as ‘under review’ on the site.

The 2025 OPP standard billing model report is available in the council agenda on the town of Midland website.

Council meetings are held every third Wednesday, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53 when available, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.

Derek Howard is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter in Midland, Ontario. Title photo: Ontario Provincial Police Dodge Charger driving on the road (Stock photo ID:2152392418).