Regional policing would cost some towns more than RCMP services, according to one New Brunswick mayor.

A New Brunswick mayor is dismissing a suggestion by the New Brunswick Police Association that communities should be forced to police together.

Grand Bay-Westfield Mayor Grace Losier said it would be too expensive for her town to join a greater Saint John regional police force.

Grand Bay-Westfield currently pays about $680,000 for RCMP service.

That's considerably less than the $880,000 Saint John quoted the town back in the 1990s to provide policing, she said.

In addition, the provincial government subsidizes the RCMP’s cost by 30 per cent for small communities, said Losier.

"My guess is that even without the 30 per cent subsidy the cost of [regional] policing would be considerably higher than what we're presently getting.”

The New Brunswick Police Association is calling on the provincial government to create legislation that would force smaller towns and local service districts to join regional police districts.

Last week, the province announced that 12 new regional service commissions will come into force in January to help with "collaboration, communication and planning among communities," the province announced last week.

Regional policing collaboration is one of their mandates, officials said.

The proposed Regional Service District 9 includes Saint John, Grand Bay-Westfield, the Kennebecasis Valley, and Hampton.

But Bob Davidson, a spokesman for the police association, said the way things are now, it can't work.

Small communities like Grand Bay-Westfield don't want to give up the subsidized RCMP service, he said. And the new regional commission wouldn’t have the power to force it to.

"The problem with the proposal by the province right now is that it does not have legislative requirements to create the regional police force."

Losier said people in Grand Bay-Westfield are happy with RCMP service.