The first collective agreement included retroactive pay increases back to 2017. The federal government opted not to cover those costs.

Andrew Black, president of the Union of the Municipalities of New Brunswick, said the province recently notified most communities that their costs would be covered. 

However, that only applies to communities policed by RCMP under a contract with the province. Around eight other communities have separate municipal policing agreements and won't have their costs covered.

Sackville, Bouctouche, Hampton, Saint Andrews, Oromocto, and Campbellton are among the communities in this latter group.

Moncton, together with Dieppe and Riverview, also has a separate policing agreement and won't be reimbursed. 

Andrew Black, mayor of Tantramar and president of the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick, says the different approach is because of separate contracts. (Frédéric Cammarano/Radio Canada)

"Contractually, I don't think that the province really has skin in the game with the RCMP municipal contract," Black said. "So they don't really have a responsibility to do it." 

CBC News asked the provincial Department of Public Safety on Monday why it opted to cover the costs for some municipalities, why others would not be covered, and how much the province would be spending. 

The department did not answer the questions. 

Black is also the mayor of Tantramar, a newly created municipality that includes Sackville. 

He said the town faced a backpay bill of about $295,000 but had set aside money and will be able to cover the cost. 

Oromocto assistant town clerk Cindy Goguen said in an email the municipality's bill is $352,141. That cost will be covered through its general operating account, Goguen said. 

In a news release last year, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities urged the federal government to cover the backpay cost since communities were not part of the RCMP contract negotiation and would need to absorb the bill. 

In Moncton, the bill is more than $5 million. 

Don Moore, chair of the Codiac Regional Policing Authority board, which oversees the RCMP policing Moncton, declined to comment.

The organization had set aside money in advance, expecting the collective agreement to include wage increases.