Seven Greater Victoria municipalities are still on the hook to take over the funding of police dispatch services this year from the province and federal governments.

Following their protest outside the legislature on Jan. 30,  the seven mayors, plus three other south Island mayors, met with the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Garry Begg on Feb. 4, to state their case and offer alternative solutions for how the E-Comm 911 service can be funded.

But the meeting yielded no change, confirmed a City of Colwood spokesperson.

The 10 municipalities B次元官网网址� Colwood, Langford, Metchosin, North Saanich, Sidney, Sooke, View Royal, North Cowichan, Duncan and Ladysmith B次元官网网址� have said it is unfair their communities will have to shoulder the responsibility of funding the E-Comm service, while most of B.C. will continue to have their services fully funded by the provincial and federal governments.

However, all hope is not lost, says Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson.

"We are optimistic that the minister heard the concerns raised by the 10 affected south Island municipalities, and that a timely solution that works for all parties will be brought forward,B次元官网网址� he said about the meeting.

Minister Begg described the discussion as B次元官网网址減roductive,B次元官网网址� but offered no clue if a last-minute reprieve could be on the horizon.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e offered to follow up with them to address any further questions and share more details as needed,B次元官网网址� said Begg in an emailed statement. 

B次元官网网址淲e all share a commitment to ensuring we have a reliable and dependable 911 service delivery system in British Columbia. This is a priority for our government, and we remain committed to working closely with these communities through the transition.B次元官网网址�

If no reprieve is offered by the higher-level governments, all 10 municipalities will have to cover 100 per cent of the funding for their 911 call-taking and police dispatch services from April 1.

The estimated cost for the police dispatch service this year, from April to December, is $4.9 million, say the municipalities, which will translate to a minimum property tax increase of between 2.7 and six per cent.

LangfordB次元官网网址檚 share of the bill amounts to around $1.5 million in 2025 for the service, which could raise property tax by almost three per cent.

Colwood is facing a 2.2 per cent tax increase to cover almost $500,000; for Sooke the amount is $255,000, Metchosin will be around $140,000 and Sidney over $331,000.

View Royal Mayor Sid Tobias has said the B次元官网网址渁verage householdB次元官网网址� in his municipality will have to pay B次元官网网址渙ver $90B次元官网网址� in 2025 for E-Comm.

As a solution, the mayors have suggested the adoption of a provincewide telecommunications levy to help offset 911 dispatch costs, similar to Alberta, where a monthly levy of $0.95 is applied to cellphone bills.

Originally managed by a local RCMP operational communication centre, the dispatch service was moved to E-Comm 911 in 2019.

The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General says the south Island communities were informed in December 2020 they would be responsible for covering 100 per cent of the costs associated with dispatch calls from 2021.

However, in response to concerns raised by the municipalities at the time, the province provided multi-year transitional funding to fully cover police dispatch services until March 31, 2025.

B次元官网网址淲ith the understanding that the municipalities would then assume responsibility for funding,B次元官网网址� said the ministry. B次元官网网址淭his transitional funding provided communities with over three years to budget appropriately.B次元官网网址�

The ministry has also highlighted that municipal funding of police dispatch services is not unique to the 10 south Island communities.

According to the ministry, Nelson and Surrey have both transitioned to their own 911 service, and the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George has recently announced they will also make the move to their own services in 2026.

B次元官网网址�911 is an optional service and is delegated to municipalities," said the ministry. 'The communities have an option to use E-Comm or provide an alternate service."