Surrey, B.C. council approves 12.5% property tax hike as policing decision looms

Surrey, B.C. councillors voted to pass the city's five-year budget Monday, approving a 12.5-per-cent property tax increase in the process.

The budget passed along party lines, with a split vote needed to pass a series of bylaws and amendments required to approve the plan.

The city, B.C.'s second-largest by population, has approved the highest average property tax increase among all Metro Vancouver municipalities.

According to Mayor Brenda Locke, that's largely due to the city's most contentious issue — the transition from the RCMP to a municipal force, which the mayor hopes to halt.

"You cannot build the kind of infrastructure that we're planning on doing without additional dollars," Locke said.

The mayor has said that the comparatively high property tax increase was due to Surrey effectively paying for two police services — the Surrey Police Service (SPS) and the RCMP detachment — costing the city approximately $8 million extra each month.

Much of the property tax increase was attributed to "inflationary pressures," with 4.5 per cent attributed to the policing costs.

The tax increase for an average homeowner in Surrey will be around $280, according to city staff estimates.

Staff reports show that the total general revenue for the city in 2023 will be approximately $756 million.

In addition to the contentious issue of paying for two police forces, other projects approved in the budget include a third ice rink for the upcoming Cloverdale Sports and Ice Complex, and upgrades to various parks in the city.

Concerns about impact on residents

That third ice rink is set to be funded through the city's portion of the province's Growing Communities Fund, which was provided to all municipalities in B.C. by the provincial government in a bid to boost city facilities.

Controversially, however, an $89.9 million allotment from the fund was applied to the bottom line to reduce the property tax increase in the city. 

Originally, the city had proposed a 17.5 per cent increase, leading to outcry from business leaders and opposition councillors.

However, using the provincial funds to soften the blow has also not gone over well.

"When you get a gift from the province of $90 million, quite frankly, I'd like to see it used for building recreation facilities or some facility that would be exceptionally useful to the residents of Surrey," said Coun. Linda Annis, who voted against the budget bylaws.

Annis also said that the 12.5-per-cent increase was still far too high amid inflationary pressures and people living paycheque-to-paycheque.

Simranjot Singh, who purchased a house in the city last month, said he had fears how the hike would affect him and his wife next month.

"I don't think it's a wise decision," he told CBC News. "I do not think that they thought it through that how it's going to impact the everyday people's life."

Decision on police transition to come next month

As the issue of the policing transition continues to dominate municipal politics in the city, the ultimate decision on whether the transition will be halted lies in the hands of Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.

In January, the minister had said he needed more information before making a final call, and added that whatever the decision, taxpayers would have to foot the bill.

Binaypal "Ben" Ghuman, a business owner in the city, said that the fact much of the tax increase was dedicated to policing costs "felt like a colossal mess-up".

"I never really understood it from the beginning, but now for me to have to pay out of pocket for something that I don't support just doesn't feel right," he said.

Farnworth told reporters Monday that he was expecting to receive information from the director of police services later this week.

"At the last time we spoke, I said I wanted a decision by the time tax notices go out, which is mid-May," Farnworth said.