Friday’s announcement that the provincial government will upload court security costs from municipalities was something Perth’s police chief and chair of the police services board have been waiting to hear for some time.

   “We were optimistic something was going to happen,” said Mary Smiley, chair of the Perth Police Services Board and president of the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards. “We just didn’t know what.”

   She said the board is pleased something is going to be done, referring to the province’s commitment to upload the court security costs – an expense of up to $125 million for all municipalities that provide court security.

   In Perth, taxpayers cover the cost, which was $162,628 this year alone.

   Despite the fact that court cases from other Lanark County municipalities are heard in the Perth courthouse, only town taxpayers foot the bill, according to legislation that saw security costs downloaded from the province under the provincial NDP government in 1990.

   Perth Police Chief Claude Brett says this price tag is expected to balloon to $500,000 a year once the expansion to the Drummond Street courthouse is complete, adding to the total number of courtrooms.

   The expansion project is expected to be complete before the province begins assuming costs in 2012. The uploading will be phased in and should be complete by 2018.

   Brett says that having court security costs off the books will reduce the police budget and ultimately mean savings for the municipality.

   Smiley said on Friday that details of the transfer of costs are not yet known, but added that a joint committee of the OAPSB and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police established earlier this year will remain in place and will form the nucleus of future discussions.

   The committee is co-chaired by Ottawa Police Chief Vern White and Emil Kolb, chair of the Peel Police Services Board. It includes Smiley and representatives from Sudbury and Durham regions, among others.

   Smiley says she feels that, given the support by all parties at Queen’s Park, it is unlikely a future non-Liberal provincial government would quash the plans to upload the court security costs.

   Earlier this summer, Smiley and Brett told the Courier that there is a perception that an economic spinoff exists for municipalities in which courts reside, adding that this is not true.

   Saying that he is at a loss to explain the reasoning behind thinking a courthouse is an economic engine for a community, Brett said those attending court “are not going shopping while they’re here.”