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MERRITT HERALD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
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ABOVE AND BEYOND Merritt Mayor Susan Roline presented local sisters Autumn (left) and April Morel with outstanding citizenship certificates at the regular council meeting on Jan. 28. The girls organized a project at Central Elementary School to send a six-year-old girl in Abbotsford (also named Autumn) get well cards and trinkets to show their support as she battled leukemia. Emily Wessel/Herald
BUDGET 2014
Buy police station, save on policing costs By Michael Potestio THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
Financial services manager Ken Ostraat recommended to council that the City of Merritt purchase the federally-owned Merritt police station at its Jan. 22 budget meeting. Policing costs are one of the highest annual costs the City of Merritt incurs, Ostraat said. Ostraat said it costs about $100,000 per year in
OVER 40 DISPLAYS!
rent for the police station alone. The City of Merritt also pays 50 per cent of the building’s janitorial and maintenance costs. Although Ostraat does not know exactly how much the building would cost to purchase, the city could buy it from the federal government for a rate below market value, he said. He said he estimates the cost to be about $1.5 million as the assessed value of the building is about $1
million and there is about $500,000 of equipment in the building. Financing 100 per cent of the cost would see the city pay about $110,000 per year over a 20-year period. “Right off the bat, we’re able to have the entire building for almost what we’re paying in rental charges right now,” Ostraat said. Owning the building would enable the City of
Merritt to charge rent to the provincial government for the portion of the building it’s using as well as bill the federal government for four Aboriginal Policing Department officers who work out of that building. “Overall, it’s an opportunity for us to significantly reduce our operative costs of the police station here in Merritt,” Ostraat said. He also recommended that council consider dropping the RCMP officer
complement from 15 to 14. In 2013, 13.6 officers were used. One was on maternity leave while another was on short-term disability. Ostraat said the city is only billed for the officers it uses, but there are some items, such as accommodation costs, the city is billed for based on the complement of officers. Ostraat said the city is stuck with half of the police station’s cost because
it’s based on the 15 police officers and an additional five municipal employees working at the station. Having only 14 RCMP officers would then reduce those costs, he said. He said overtime expenses in 2013 for Merritt RCMP were $126,000, of which the city pays 70 per cent. Ostraat said he plans to bring forward a report to council regarding these suggestions.
MERRITT SPRING HOMESHOW 2014
There’s never been a better time to...Renovate, Landscape, Decorate! Friday, Feb. 14, 5pm - 9pm • Saturday, Feb. 15, 10am - 5pm MERRITT CIVIC CENTRE • www.bctradeshows.ca