Surrey pondering reducing 17.5% property tax hike using provincial funding

Surrey City Hall. (City of Surrey)

Could new grant funding from the Government of British Columbia dedicated towards improving community amenities and infrastructure be used towards reducing the 2023 property tax hike for Surrey residents and businesses?

This very idea is being seriously contemplated as the solution by Surrey mayor Brenda Locke, who announced in Monday’s public meeting the City of Surrey will consider directing the $89.9 million it will receive from the provincial government’s Growing Communities Fund to reduce the 2023 property tax increase from 17.5% to 12.5%.

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Two weeks ago, City staff proposed a staggering 17.5% increase in 2023 to cover escalating costs, including 9.5% to cover the policing operating shortfall, 7% to fund various general costs such as cost inflation impacts to all areas of City operations and hiring more police officers, firefighters, and bylaw officers, and 1% for improvements to road infrastructure.

Locke says that with the new provincial grant, the City is “now in a position to revise the budget and bring the overall property tax rate down.”

The Mayor suggests the new funding from the province will go to capital improvements, such as the third sheet of ice at the Cloverdale rink, as well as reducing the 9.5% portion of the property tax hike towards the policing shortfall to 4.5%.

She claims that if this scheme is approved, Surrey will continue to be in the bottom third of property taxes in Metro Vancouver.

The 9.5% includes the major costs to wind down the Surrey Police Services (SPS) and retain the Surrey RCMP, including $82 million in severance to the SPS workforce, which has grown to a size of about 400 officers and civilian staff.

Locke emphasizes that the 5% drop in the property tax increase depends on pushing forward with City Council’s strategy to dismantle the SPS and maintain the RCMP.

“Should the [municipal] police transition be allowed to continue, the extra costs would not be covered in the proposed 2023 budget,” she said.

It should also be noted that the provincial government holds the final decision on whether the City of Surrey can dismantle the SPS and retain the RCMP, but it has delayed its decision due to the need for more information from the municipality and SPS. The target date for such a decision has been moved from late January to the end of March.

Following Monday’s City Council direction to limit the property tax increase to no more than 12.5%, City staff will return to City Council on April 6 with a revised budget for consideration.

Daily Hive Urbanized has reached out to the BC Ministry of Municipal Affairs on whether its Growing Communities Fund grant allocation to Surrey can be used to reduce the police-related tax increase.

Last Friday, the provincial government announced the breakdown of $1 billion in grant funding to municipal and regional governments across BC.

Surrey is the largest recipient, as the grant allocation is based on a formula that takes into account both recent population growth rates and real population. Based on this formula, the City of Vancouver will receive substantially less — $49.1 million — in comparison, despite having a larger population.

During last week’s announcement, BC minister of municipal affairs Anne Kang suggested the grant can be used to support projects such as new affordable housing, childcare, and recreation centres, as well as road improvements. It was also noted that the Ministry “will provide further guidance to municipalities and regional districts on the use of their funds in the coming weeks.”

The grants will be distributed to all local governments by the end of March 2023.

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