The final approval of the City of Surrey 2020 Budget and short-term financial plan on December 16 is very disappointing to the Surrey Board of Trade, Surrey’s city-building organization.
“The role of Canadian cities are to provide services such as policing, firefighting, sanitation and recreation that are vital to our quality of life,” said Anita Huberman, CEO Surrey Board of Trade. “To do these things, cities raise and spend large amounts of money. Taxes affect decisions about where to live and invest.”
This budget needed to be about making Surrey an opportunity city. Raising business property taxes by 5.5% with no consultation in this economic climate will lead to further tax burdens to business.
“This unexpected increase will impact our manufacturing community, our industrial base – all of our businesses.”
“The City of Surrey must commit to transformational change that will secure a better economic future for all of us.”
The Surrey Board of Trade in their original city budget presentation said that the 2020 City of Surrey budget needed to have an economic development focus.
The Surrey Board of Trade asked all of Mayor and Council to cancel the RCMP transition, improve development approvals, focus on economic development assets, art & culture investments, increase transparency, invest in housing & transportation strategies.
“The 2020 City of Surrey budget approval will have detrimental consequences to Surrey being an opportunity city.”
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