Trail council says the city deserves more provincial funding to recognize a “disproportionate” number of overdoses, drug-related incidents, and emergency calls compared to surrounding communities.
Council unanimously adopted a motion this week introduced by councillor Thea Hanson. She said the ongoing opioid and toxic drug crisis results in “significant operational financial impacts,” including staffing pressures and overtime.
Because Trail is home to the regional hospital and other services, she said the city bears a “significant share of the local financial burden,” showing up in increased costs of by-law enforcement and hiring contractors to dispose of materials from abandoned encampments.
Her motion asks the provincial government for “targeted sustainable funding” to offset the city’s share of those costs. It suggests a funding model be created for communities home to regional hospitals and centralized health and social services.
“We pay a significant portion of the costs for a lot of things in the area,” Hanson said. “Yes, we have the biggest tax base, but we also have the regional hospital. We also are the only municipality in the region that has over 5,000 people, therefore pick up 70 per cent of the RCMP bill, where our neighboring municipalities do not.”
Councillor Bev Benson proposed an addition to the motion, which was adopted, that if the province turns down their request, that the city talk to neighbouring municipalities about “regional partnership models and collaborative advocacy approaches.”
Council further tinkered with the motion, which originally asked that city staff compile supporting data including call volumes, overtime and staffing impacts to help strengthen their case. That was amended to have staff request the data, but not necessarily compile it themselves.
In January, Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue reported it had seen close to 200 calls, almost twice as many as during the same time the previous year.
