The City of Langley has officially ratified a contract with the RCMP, which will see the community policed by the national force for the next two decades.
On Monday night, council authorized the mayor to sign the document, which he did with little fanfare on Wednesday morning.
"I signed it today; it's in the mail," said Mayor Peter Fassbender.
During its regular Monday meeting on April 23, council raised the issue of the police officers' pay package and how it could potentially affect the City's budget.
"The federal government has indicated there should be no financial impact, and maybe a savings," Fassbender said.
Because the City had been made aware about a year ago, that a raise for RCMP members could be in the works, the municipality made a provision for an additional 1.5 per cent in its budget.
The actual increase turned out to be 1.75 per cent — a difference of about $20,000.
That figure will not change the overall budget, said the mayor. Nor will it affect the municipal property tax increases for 2012. At the same meeting, council gave third reading to a bylaw authorizing the the City to levy those taxes.