City of Merritt budget cut proposal may mean an end to 24-hour policing: RCMP commander

The City of Merritt is in the second year of a two-year plan to restock its reserves as it builds back from the 2021 floods. Last year, residents faced a 12.5 per cent tax increase, with the current 2025 proposed budget expected to come in between eight and 12 per cent. Council’s plan is to then drop to more manageable increases in 2026 once the city’s reserves return to a safe level.

The current working budget under consideration by Merritt’s city council proposes an eight per cent tax increase for 2025. But getting to that figure could mean potential service cuts, including to the RCMP.

“The RCMP costs — you will probably see more from me and council on this. We are at a point now where costs are becoming almost unbearable. When I came (on council) in 2008, our RCMP costs were $1.75 million. Today, they are $3.5 million — so [that is] getting close to half of our budget,” Mayor Mike Goetz told CFJC Today Friday (Jan. 10).

The proposed cut is to drop from 17 positions to 15, with the mayor noting the RCMP has struggled to fill all the positions within the detachment.

The commander of the Merritt detachment, Staff Sgt. Josh Roda, however, is sounding the alarm on potential cuts as the detachment reports a five-year high in the number of files in 2024. Some of those files involved the need to call in outside resources like the Southeast District Emergency Response Team (ERT).

“I think the community just needs to know the facts before they support or don’t support a decision. And at the end of the day, this is mayor and council’s decision to make and I think they need the facts to make the decision. Part of that is knowing that if you decrease to 15 (members), there is a strong likelihood you will lose 24-hour policing in Merritt,” Roda said in an interview.

The Mounties are expecting to charge the city for 14 of the 17 positions this year due to members being on leave, but are at a current complement of 16 members. Dropping to 15, despite meaning 100 per cent staffing, will come with problems, as members have put in for transfers.

“If your vacancy rate is high, you have the ability to hold officers. If your vacancy rate is low, you have to release people. Going down to 15 (funded positions) doesn’t mean we are going to stay at 14. It would likely mean we are going to drop down to 13 or 12 and so that is going to create problems trying to manage 24-hour policing,” stated Roda.

Before the change to 24-hour policing, the community had on-call police service for four hours each day.

The current proposal is just one of many in front of council with Goetz stating it may not be the only bold idea coming soon.

“We don’t want to do anything to [rock] that boat, but again, one of 25 options and we have until May to make the decision. We will probably through a few more (options) around that will probably get some attention at some point in time,” added Goetz.

City council is required to finalize its 2025 budget before May 15, 2025.