Surrey budget proposes 9.5% property tax increase for policing transition costs

The City of Surrey has released its draft five-year budget, allocating more than half of the property tax increases for 2023 to cover the costs associated with the police transition.

It says in a news release that the 2023 draft operating budget was created without a decision on policing in Surrey, but relies on the presumption it will retain the RCMP as the police of jurisdiction.

The city says maintaining the Mounties will cost about $235 million less over the next five years than the Surrey Police Force, but “there remains a shortfall of $116.6 million created by the transition process.”

To account for that, it says the budget proposes a 9.5 per cent general property tax increase.

This comes about three weeks after Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said the director of police services wanted more information before deciding on the city’s plan to revert to the RCMP as its police force.