Grande Prairie raises police background check fee

People in Grande Prairie who need a police background check will pay $5 more for the service, which previously cost $40, as the city tries to redistribute a new fee that would otherwise target only certain people.

In Canada, anyone with the same gender and birthday as a registered sexual offender must submit to a fingerprint search if they are applying for a police check in orderto work with children, the elderly or the disabled.

The rule was instituted in 2010 to close a loophole allowing sex offenders to conceal convictions by changing their names.

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Those in Grande Prairie who require fingerprinting currently pay $50, in addition to the police-check fee.

In the past, thecity forwarded $25 of the fee to the federal governmentand kept the other half to cover its own costs.

A recent $25 increase in the federal fee prompted city administration to suggest a new $75 charge for fingerprinting.

As a result, anyone who requiredthe additionalservice would have paid a total of$115, while those who didn't would pay $40.

Fingerprinting is an additional charge, on top of the criminal record check that employees and volunteers require to work with vulnerable people.

Coun. DylanBresseysuggested the city instead raise the price of police background checks for everyone in the city by $5, rather thancharging a handful of peoplemore for fingerprinting.

"I wasn't comfortable with that,"Bresseysaid. "Fingerprinting is a cost of the system overall, it should be borne by everybody that gets a background check, not just those unlucky people that need to get fingerprinted."

Grande Prairiecity council voted in favour of Bressey's amendment onFeb. 12, raising the price of police background checks from $40 to $45.

"It's a requirement that some people have that's only because of their gender and birthday,"Bresseysaid. "I really don't feel that they should have increased costs because of the criminal activity of someone that they've never met before."

Without amunicipal fee increase to match the new federal charge, the city would haveabsorbed an estimated$17,000 annually.

"We're really trying to be careful with our revenues across the city," Bressey said. "Is $17,000 itself significant? In a budget of over $100 million, not in that regard ... But it all really adds up and it's noticeable to taxpayers."

Police background checks for volunteers in the city will remain free.The reducedfee for practicum students won't increase from $15.

The changemarks the beginning of more tweaks the city plans to make to its user fees, Bressey added.

"I believe it's been over a decade since we've done a comprehensive look at our user fees," he said.

The city will review fees including bus fares and charges at recreation centresahead of the 2019 budget cycle.

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