Culture and crime top the agenda in Surrey’s five-year financial blueprint

Surrey reached a crossroads in 2014. The city said goodbye to three-term mayor Dianne Watts, who had ushered in a new era of economic growth and urban renewal for a city that in the not-too-distant past had been named the Car Theft Capital of North America.

Watts’ hand-picked successor, Linda Hepner, and her Surrey First organization won easily, sweeping council and receiving a resounding message from voters to stay the course. Hepner’s first task as new mayor was to pass Surrey’s 2015 budget, highlighting three financial priorities: recreation, culture and public safety.

The five-year financial plan calls for improvements that are expected to cost around $205 million. The budget features a new recreation and cultural facility in Clayton, the second phase of the Surrey Museum, four new ice rinks and renovations to the City Centre Artist Space.

To help fund the projects a new flat $100 tax, called the Recreation and Culture Parcel Tax, has been implemented. It is expected to generate approximately $16 million per year toward new capital initiatives in Surrey. There’s also going to be a property tax increase of 2.9%, a fee increase for secondary suites to $528, up from $412, and a 1% road levy. The city has long been known for having the lowest residential taxes and second-lowest business taxes in the region, but if voters approve a proposed half-percentage-point hike in the sales tax to fund transit improvements, Surreyites will feel the pinch.

“As the second-largest city in British Columbia, and with a third of our population under the age of 19, investing in infrastructure for our youth is a top priority,” said Hepner in the budget press release.

Coun. Tom Gill, who garnered the most votes of any councillor in the 2014 election, said the tax hike is necessary for upgrades as the city grows.

“When you are the lowest in taxes I’m not necessarily sure that’s the best thing,” Gill said. “But with that being said, the increases that we’re proposing, we’re still going to be the lowest-taxed municipality in the region. One thing we want to do is assure individuals that taxes will remain stable, however. And one of the things that I’ve been working on personally is keeping that 2.9% property tax [increase] in place.”

Gill said roads in Surrey have long been ignored and are now in need of a facelift.

“One of the big challenges we’ve noticed over the years is the money that was supposed to be directed towards roads wasn’t being sufficiently funded in past years. And one of the things that we did create in 2007 was the road levy, so the idea is to stick to the 2.9% property tax [increase] and the 1% road levy.”

The other key component of the five-year financial plan is funding for 100 additional RCMP officers and more municipal support staff to help fight crime. Anita Huberman, chief executive officer for the Surrey Board of Trade, agrees Surrey needs to put more resources toward solving its crime problem but says putting more police officers on the streets is only part of the solution.

“More social service support programs are needed to help those with mental health issues, homeless issues,” Huberman said. “But this is a collaboration that must happen with the provincial and federal governments, as much of these types of problems are governed not by the city but by other levels of government. Community safety officers or a similar program to ensure the visibility and access to safety is important. Prolific offenders who continually reoffend is the problem, which is a problem that can only be solved in collaboration with the provincial government via our justice system.”