As I’ve posted earlier, protective services are a significant part of Langley City’s budget. The RCMP uses 45% of all municipal property tax collected in Langley City.
As policing is such a significant expenditure for our community, and that expense will likely continue to grow as our community grows, it is prudent to complete a review of how we deliver policing services in Langley City.
In the 2022 budget, Council and staff are proposing to set aside $50,000 to complete a review of the policing services model for Langley City.
With SkyTrain coming to Langley City, we will start to see new types of construction in certain parts of our community, such as concrete towers near Willowbrook Mall. The SkyTrain guideway will also require that firefighters have special training and equipment to perform their jobs when there is a SkyTrain emergency.
Today, Langley City Fire Rescue Service has one of the, if not the busiest, fire stations in Metro Vancouver. As our population and the business community continues to grow, so must the number of firefighters.
To plan for the future, Langley City Council and staff are proposing to invest $60,000 to “engage a consultant to review the [fire] department and make recommendations about the department’s future growth and determine if the arrival of SkyTrain will affect department staffing.”
These are only the first steps to ensure that our protective services meet our community’s needs.
No comments:
Post a Comment