Should the province step in to help university cities foot the policing bill for Homecoming?
It's a question that has come up, as cities and police services try to figure out how to manage the bill for Homecoming celebrations, more specifically the extra costs incurred in response to unsanctioned street parties.
That cost has only been going up in Guelph. It reached six figures last year, hitting $125,000. Of that, $113,000 was attributed to additional policing efforts. The other $13,330 was for increased bylaw enforcement and fire service.
About $16,000 for police was covered by the University of Guelph to bring in officers for the day.
Homecoming weekend in Guelph is set for the weekend of Sept. 23.
Homecoming 2021 cost the police service $36,000. The 2019 cost was $72,000 and 2018 was an additional $63,456.
Ahead of last year's Homecoming, the Guelph police board passed a pair of motions, including to ask for U of G to reimburse $65,000 to cover the "impacts both on and off campus to ensure the safety of students and citizens during Project Safe Semester and Homecoming and other unsanctioned gatherings connected to the University of Guelph" in 2021.
There was also a motion passed to look into a funding arrangement with the university, to take some of the burden off city taxpayers.
However, since requesting those conversations as a police board, mayor Cam Guthrie said there "really hasn't been any movement."
Guthrie did confirm big city mayors from university and college cities have discussed the matter to share ideas.
"(We have done so, while) also trying to advocate to the provincial government to see if there's any type of other mechanisms or other type of solutions that we could be looking at in all of our communities about those types of issues," he said.
"Especially when things do get out of hand for those kind of Homecoming types of parties."
Guthrie adds at this stage, nothing has really come back from that either, but hopes for a solution.
"I still do think that the province needs to look into how they can help (offset) some of these issues that the taxpayers of municipalities have to bare the costs (of), when we should be budgeting for such things," he said.
GuelphToday did not immediately get a response from Colleges and Universities Minister Jill Dunlop and the U of G.
For now, Guthrie complimented current efforts by the university, from the proactive approach of getting student ambassadors out into the community – posting flyers and knocking on doors to talk with students – to the pre-planning by the university, and focusing events to be on campus.
He said students are important to the community, and the university has a lot of pride.
"They call it Gryphon pride for a reason," Guthrie said. "And the pride means that they are here to adhere to the school standards that they have in place, which includes both on-campus and off-campus behaviour."
He added many times, the issues are not being caused by Guelph residents or U of G students.
"It's a go Gryphs moment for the city, especially Homecoming, it's important not just for the university," Guthrie said.
"It's a good time, just as long as everyone remains respectful of each other and of property. I'm sure it would be a much better result, and a much lower bill at the end of the day."
