As part of the work of the Local Government RCMP Contract Management Committee (LGCMC), the Province has developed a backgrounder regarding RCMP Divisional Administration costs. The document is also relevant to discussions regarding how police model transitions may impact local governments that hold Municipal Police Unit Agreements.
Divisional Administration is one of several components that contribute to the total cost of RCMP policing. It represents centralized administrative services that are shared among all business lines (federal, provincial, municipal and First Nations) within a Division. These costs are not static, as the Divisional Administration rate can increase or decrease based on the number of RCMP Members in a Division and other factors (e.g., vacancies, salaries, overtime, pension contributions, leave, number of staff assigned to divisional administration, costs for goods and services, etc.).
The Province’s backgrounder includes an overview on how Divisional Administration is calculated (as outlined in Article 11.2 of the Municipal Police Unit Agreement). In short, the rate per full time employee (FTE) is calculated by taking the total cost of Divisional Administration divided by the annual average number of RCMP Members in “E” Division (excluding Members in Divisional Administration Units and on Special Leave). RCMP “E” Division representatives, when speaking at the November 2023 LGCMC meeting, confirmed that the current Divisional Administration rate in B.C. is approximately $42,500 per FTE.
The information outlined in the Province’s backgrounder, when applied to the Surrey police model transition, shows that a change in the overall number of Members within “E” Division would impact the Divisional Administration rate. However, as noted above, a change in the overall number can occur as a result of any number of factors. The backgrounder also notes RCMP “E” Division’s perspective regarding the demobilization of Members from the Surrey RCMP Municipal Police Unit.
Last year, UBCM delivered correspondence to the Honourable Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, regarding the impacts of policing transitions on local governments. UBCM and the Province have used the LGCMC as the forum to discuss associated impacts on local governments. It is expected that additional information related to Surrey’s police model transition, once available, will be shared by the Province through this forum, and subsequently communicated to the broader UBCM membership.