On September 26, Champlain Township council approved the 2025 Hawkesbury Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Detachment Board budget. The budget comes with an overall increase of $29,500 from 2024 numbers.
The 2025 budget, similar to that of 2024, is based on the number of residential units including occupied commercial and industrial properties. This cost allocation formula is proportional to the number of properties in each of the municipalities and the overall expenses being shared by communities.
As costs throughout the country and province have continued to rise following the COVID-19 pandemic, the larger cost associated with operating the Hawkesbury OPP Detachment has understandably increased as well. Ontario is not expected to increase the grants available to OPP detachments in the province.
Due to this, changes in the 2025 budget result in an approximately 57 per cent rise in expenses from the previous year and will cost the municipalities more overall than in 2024.
Expenses will now cost Hawkesbury taxpayers approximately $23,900 for 2025 services, up from about $15,000 this year. Alfred and Plantagenet will see an increase to approximately $20,000 in 2025, much higher than 2024 numbers at around $12,600. Champlain’s costs will be about $18,600 in 2025, up from approximately $11,900. Lastly, East Hawkesbury will see an increase to about $6,800 from over $4,300 in 2024.
Revenues expected in 2025 remain unchanged from 2024 amounts, with $173,319 coming from various Ontario grants to aid municipalities in offsetting costs. The 2024 budget totalled $224,819 for expenditures while 2025 will see this rise to $254,319. The amount funded by municipalities in 2024 is $51,500, increasing to $81,000 in 2025. These numbers Municipalities are now on the hook for the additional $29,500 next year.
