The City of Merritt will look into the possibility of purchasing the local police detachment, but determining if its for sale and council’s appetite for such an initiative will be a lengthy process.

Buying the building was something former financial services manager Ken Ostraat had said could save the city $100,000 per year.

A year ago, he told the Herald the city pays rent to the federal government for the police station building at an annual charge of approximately $96,000.

The city is also responsible for half of the building’s maintenance costs, which brings the city’s costs for the building to about $187,000 per year.

Last year Ostraat told council the debt servicing they’d pay to purchase the building would be cheaper than renting.

Even if the building was purchased at its full appraised value of $1.2 million, the city could take out a 20-year loan from the Municipal Finance Authority and pay about $80,000 per year, thus saving $16,000 annually on rent, he said.

City of Merritt financial director Sheila Thiessen said $187,000 is the municipality’s total estimated accommodation cost for 2015-16.

The building is 100 per cent owned by the federal government, but the province also incurs policing costs for Merritt’s Mounties, and is a stakeholder in the building, Thiessen told the Herald.

“If we were to buy it out, that would impact their funding as well, it would have an impact on them, so we wouldn’t be able to [buy it] without consulting with them,” Thiessen said.

RCMP E-Division would also need to conduct a cost analysis to determine whether or not it’s worthwhile to sell the building to the city.

The city, province and RCMP on behalf of the federal government are all working together on this initiative and will be meeting face-to-face in the spring to review the numbers, Thiessen confirmed to the Herald.

Thiessen said the province has told them that if it incurs additional expenses as a result of the city buying the building, it would be against the sale.

“It would have to work out to be mutually beneficial for all parties concerned,” she said.

City of Merritt chief administrative officer (CAO) Shawn Boven told the Herald that if the city were to buy the building, owning it could be at least two years away.

“We don’t even know if it’s for sale, and if it is for sale, is it really in the best interest to buy it? It’s unknown at this time,” Boven said.

The city’s police committee will be tasked with examining the possibility of purchasing the RCMP detachment, but it will be a lengthy, and complicated process.

Merritt’s Mountie budget is one of the city’s highest, and as a town with a population under 15,000 it pays 70 per cent of its total police costs. That budget has hovered around $2.5 million for the past few years.