Williams Lake city council gave support for a new agreement for the city's RCMP policing services in which the city will see an increase in costs with no change in staffing levels.
Staff recommended council support the multi-year financial plan put forward by the RCMP for police service in the city from 2026-2031 and a budget cap for 2026/27, which will see the city pay 6.6 per cent more next year than in the past.
Each year, the RCMP sends the city their proposed budget for upcoming years and requests agreement in principle. The city contracts with the Province of B.C. and the RCMP for policing services.
The city pays 70 per cent and the province pays 30 per cent, covering 25 full time equivalent policing staff. The city also covers the cost of the RCMP building rental and building operation and maintenance. The Williams Lake RCMP detachment also houses some regional resources,
According to the staff report to council, the city made no request or plan of proposed increases in police staffing, yet the plan projects a 12.1 per cent increase in costs over the five-year period.
Staff reported an RCMP overtime increase of 3.5 per cent forecast for 2026/27, despite the city adding two city staff member positions to provide administrative support to relieve overtime pressure. The expectation at the meeting appeared to be these additional support staff could help reduce the projected increase of costs in the police agreement.
The increase proposed for 2026 amounts to an additional $297,794 to the city's costs, equivalent to a 1.65 per cent tax increase for city taxpayers. Staff recommended adopting the plan, which the council did, unanimously.
Mayor Surinderpal Rathor said the city is well protected, and with the help from the province in recent months, the RCMP are making a "big difference" in the city.
Rathor pointed out the city is no longer the crime capital of the country as it was in years previously, and according to the 2024 RCMP report, crime in the city was on the decrease.
At an update to council in April of 2025, Williams Lake RCMP detachment commander Inspector Robert Lake reported the city had actually been seeing a drop in property offences, theft from vehicles and break and enter to businesses. Break and enters to residences had been on the increase, which Lake had said was something RCMP were looking at trying to address at the time.
Lake had highlighted the detachment's focus on targeted crime reduction strategies and said calls to service for RCMP in the city had been trending down for the past five years.
Coun. Scott Nelson, who has been drawing attention to concerns around public safety in the downtown, said he supports the agreement, but may want to see an increase in the local police force.
"City of Williams Lake is no longer the crime capital, touch wood," said Mayor Rathor, who said the city may be asking for more RCMP members in the future and reiterating his ongoing concerns regarding the release of repeat offenders back into the community.
