Clock running on municipal budget decisions around E-Comm

As their budget considerations come down to the April wire, several Vancouver Island municipalities on the hook for 100% of costs related to E-Comm emergency dispatch services are still weighing in.

A review of their financial plans from 2025, shows that many have decided to accept the costs and have already integrated them into their budgets. Others, such as Sooke, are still deliberating.

In 2020, nine area municipalities—Colwood, Ladysmith, Langford, North Cowichan, North Saanich, Sidney, Sooke, and View Royal were informed of an impending download of 100% costs for RCMP E-Comm 9-1-1 dispatch calls to their municipal budgets.

Apart from cities with independent police departments like Victoria’s the funding formula for dispatch E-Comm costs has been split in BC, historically, between the feds and the province at a ratio of 70:30. In Kelowna Courtney, Prince George, and Terrace this is still the case.

In light of the fiscal challenges COVID-19 presented to budgets at all levels of government, that move was deferred until the province made an announcement in Dec. 2024.

The nine mayors have been left with no other choice but to either ignore the directive and forgo the service, or assume property tax increases to pay for them.

“This is basically a $2 million hit coming to us over one year, and we have no say in that cost unless we don’t want 911,” Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson told his council members on Jan. 20.

At around the same time the provincial download announcement was made, Solicitor General Garry Begg announced his office was launching a review of the service to address cost increases and to ensure a reliable and sustainable model for 911 services in the province.

Mayors wrote the solicitor general

In their Jan. 29 letter to Begg, the mayors reiterate the implied financial hardship of the dispatch cost download and argue the fees are unique to south Vancouver Island.

They say since 2021, they “have worked collectively to push back against this inequitable cost downloading, which successfully delayed implementation through March 31. Despite this, they argue the province has not:

• Consulted with South Island municipalities
• Explored alternative funding models
• Addressed the inconsistencies and inequities between regions across BC or
• Introduced a telecommunications levy to fund a new provincial 9-1-1 model, as seen in other provinces

In an emailed response, Sidney Chief Administrative Officer Liam Edwards told Capital Daily, “It continues to stand alongside the other South Island municipalities in strongly opposing the upcoming download of police dispatch costs to our communities’ taxpayers.”

Following the Jan 28 letter, they said the mayor received a response from Begg on Feb. 20, indicating that no further funding from the province would be provided while committing to work with affected municipalities to address concerns.  In response, the mayors sent a joint letter directly to Premier David Eby on Feb. 19 and another follow-up letter on March 7, requesting the continuation of transitional funding.

To date, there has been no response to either letter.

E-Comm also feels the pain

When E-Comm President and CEO Oliver Grüter-Andrew and CFO Jason Rude presented to the Sooke council on March 10, it became clear that the lack of provincial consultation and transparency had impacted there, too. They revealed they had also taken a financial hit amidst the confusion.

“E-Comm itself got exposed to this model in the same way you were. It wasn’t in any way transparent to us how the funding occurred prior to the transition or what would occur subsequently. We were taken as much by surprise as the 10  communities were,” Grüter Andrew said.

“It’s a very inequitable model that’s in the province today. Any major city that has an independent police department is 100%  responsible for the cost of emergency comms to that department or fire department.”

The confusion meant unpaid bills for nearly a year.

“What E-Comm didn’t know and what other parties who negotiated the agreement but didn’t think through was that when employees that used to be employed for RCMP as federal employees in the Westshore became E-Comm employees in 2019, the province’s obligation to pay them no longer applied and they withdrew 30% funding from E-Comm.”

Once that transition happened it became unclear who was responsible for paying E-Comm bills.

“We didn’t know where to send out invoices to be paid. We went to the province to ask to be paid. They decided to step in by agreeing to pay 100% of the costs rather than just the 70 they’d paid to that point.” But not forever.

When they decided to step in, in 2020, Grüter-Andrew explained, “the province decided that they would not do so indefinitely and established a deadline as to when they would pass 100% of costs onto communities, and essentially mirror Victoria, Oak Bay and Central Saanich for their costs for independent detachments.”

The Sooke situation

Sooke Coun. Al Beddows asked how individual municipality costs were formulated. “We don’t have to have much say in the numbers you come up with. How were we represented with your service to get the best value for our dollars?”

“We’re paying the bills and have no representation in your organization. Do other cities have mayor and council representation when you are determining your numbers?”

Costs, explained Grüter-Andrew, are calculated based on data analysis of anticipated call volumes, shift patterns, the nature of the crimes, and dispatcher numbers required.

E-Comm is owned by local governments as a shareholder-run corporation though there is not a rep on its board from each city. Paul Douglas, Saanich PD’s deputy chief, is the only representative for Vancouver Island on E-Comm’s 23-member board of directors.

“Nobody on that board pays the bills,” Beddows said.

Grüter-Andrew suggested if Sooke wanted council representation it should speak with the Westshore RCMP. “My view is they are very understanding of the situation.”

Other mayors aren’t waiting for those conversations and appear to have made their decisions.

North Saanich and Sidney and Langford

As per their financial plan drafts, North Saanich and Sidney have incorporated E-Comm 911 costs into their proposed 2025 budgets.

For Sidney, the cost for the first nine months of the service will be $331.5K, representing a tax impact of close to 2.5%. Its plan suggests the new cost be funded through an allocation of the prior year’s surplus. The full budgetary impact of the download won’t arrive until next year when those costs are estimated to come in at $460K.

Sidney's 2025-2029 financial plan, which includes E-Comm, was adopted by its council following final budget deliberations on March 11.

Wording from North Saanich’s financial plan suggests the municipality had been anticipating the requirement in 2023. The cost of E-Comm services is reflected in the 2025 budget’s first quarter with a one-time grant of $161K.

North Saanich will adopt its plan in late April or early May. Like all BC municipalities, it has until May 15 to submit its Five-Year Financial Plan Bylaw to the province.

Langford's Goodmanson told Capital Daily that municipality's budget and tax hike of 9.77% will cover E-Comm costs.