NORFOLK taxpayers will get a break on higher costs for OPP service.

Ontario is giving Norfolk and other small, rural municipalities financial relief from unexpectedly high prices to contract OPP policing in 2025.

The province will give Norfolk $2.1 million to help offset a $3.1-million increase in the county’s contract with the OPP next year.

In October, county officials were shocked when Norfolk OPP said its 2025 contract would total $15.5 million, up 25 per cent from $12.4 million in 2024.

The extra $3.1 million for policing would have raised property taxes by 2.4 per cent.

But the $2.1 million in provincial funding means Norfolk’s 2025 OPP contract instead will total $13.3 million, up $1 million or about seven per cent from this year.

The 2025 contract will increase property taxes by less than one per cent.

The provincial government is giving $77 million to help dozens of smaller municipalities cushion the cost of OPP policing.

“I think probably this is the great news story of the day,” Mayor Amy Martin told councillors last Tuesday.

County officials are pursuing two questions:
– Why did OPP costs increase so much after years of decline?
– Will the province continue to help with OPP costs in future years or was this one-time relief?

Councillors will set 2025 property taxes at budget sessions on Jan. 15 and 16.

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Originally published December 18, 2024