Kimberley City Council voted this week to approve in principle the contract with the Kimberley RCMP to establish the numbers of full time equivalent RCMP members at eight full time equivalent for the 2020/2021 fiscal year.
Further, Council directed the Detachment Commander to manage transfers and leaves so that the budgetary impact is equivalent to seven full-time members.
In a report from staff, Maryse Leroux and Jim Hendricks, it was noted that as a community with a population under 15,000, the City of Kimberley is obligated each year under the Municipal Police Service Agreement to pay 70 per cent of the cost of providing and maintaining the RCMPs municipal police unit in Kimberley. The federal government funds 30 per cent.
The 2020/2021 cost estimate for seven full time equivalent members and overtime projections provided by the RCMP is $957,962, which is $12,743 less than the $970,705 budgeted by the City in the 2019-2023 financial plan.