Grey County will assist Owen Sound with the costs of providing security at the local courthouse.
At its meeting on July 25, county council voted unanimously to assist Owen Sound with the court security expense it has been incurring for many years. The county’s decision came in the wake of Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy asking the county to help on the issue at a county council meeting in June.
At the meeting, CAO Kim Wingrove delivered a report about the matter and recommended that Grey County assume the $230,000 in court security costs that Owen Sound must pay.
The Ontario Court of Justice and Superior Court of Justice are located in Owen Sound and provincial law requires the local police force – in this case the Owen Sound Police – to provide security in the courthouse. The province does provide funding assistance to the city for the expense, but it does not cover the full amount.
The court facility serves most of Grey County and parts of Bruce County, while another court in Walkerton serves the southern areas of the two counties.
“A long time ago,” Wingrove said to begin her presentation. “It was originally intended to be revenue neutral through fines and provincial funding.”
Wingrove said Ontario is the only jurisdiction in Canada that requires a local police force to provide security at provincial court facilities.
The CAO said, over the years, various municipalities have delegated to the province about the issue at the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference with little success.
Wingrove recommended the county enter an agreement with Owen Sound to provide funding for the difference between the total costs of court security and the provincial funding.
“This proposal is meant to ensure fair and sustainable service delivery,” she said.
Warden Brian Milne noted that the “revenue neutral” promise of many years ago had turned out to be a false one.
“The list of things that were supposed to be, but aren’t, revenue neutral continues to grow,” said Milne.
Grey Highlands Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen asked how the county would set a budget for the security costs each year.
“Will it be based on the previous year’s costing? How is the county planning to budget?” said Nielsen.
Wingrove explained that the county essentially would agree to cover the costs of court security in the following year’s budget.
“It is a very challenging thing, I expect, to try and budget for that,” said Wingrove. “We can’t know what these numbers are until the end of the year.”
Chatsworth Mayor Scott Mackey asked if the county would have a special funding formula for the expense. He wondered if the county would collect funding based on the number of households in each municipality.
“I’m not sure how we can fairly come up with the dollar value each municipality would pay,” said Mackey.
Wingrove and Director of Finance Mary Lou Spicer explained that the county would treat the costs as any other expense and it would be added to the overall levy.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Boddy thanked county council for the support and Wingrove for the report on the issue.
“It is something that is important to Owen Sound,” he said.
