The Surrey Board of Trade observes the City Budget as part of its mandate to ensure fair taxation and support for businesses.
“Despite the reduced resident property tax of 12.5% that was approved at the April 3 City of Surrey council meeting, the Surrey Board of Trade is very concerned about ongoing, uncertain property tax increases for businesses,” said Anita Huberman, President & CEO, Surrey Board of Trade. “It is business that bears the greatest burden of taxation by all levels of government. The City of Surrey budget, on top of regional and provincial tax increases, are stifling businesses to grow in an already challenging economy.”
Surrey Board of Trade city budget recommendations: https://businessinsurrey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CITY-BUDGET-PRESENTATION-2023-1.pdf
Why is the City Budget important to Surrey’s business organization?
1. To ensure that investments for Surrey’s business community are created for our local economy – for today and for the future. The Surrey Board of Trade wants a safe city, an affordable city, a vibrant city, an interconnected and inclusive city, and a city that fosters innovation.
2. The Surrey Board of Trade is mandated to review and make recommendations on government budgets to instigate change and share ideas to better our economy to ensure businesses thrive in an environment where they and their employees can live, learn, work and play. The Surrey Board of Trade monitors public sector spending to maximize productivity in the economy and encourage growth in the private sector.
3. The Surrey Board of Trade is a visible organization responsible for advocating on behalf of the views and best interests of our membership. The Surrey Board of Trade is a partner in building Surrey into an Opportunity City.
4. The City Budget is important to the Surrey Board of Trade to ensure Surrey’s tax rates encourage business growth/retention and infrastructure investments.
5. The Surrey Board of Trade understands and works on meeting the aspirations of Surrey in the face of significant internal and external pressures. We want the City of Surrey to continue to have a sustainable financial framework for municipal services and city-building investments involving both revenue and expense measures.
The Surrey Board of Trade is an independent, not-for-profit, city-building business organization that supports business and attracts business to Surrey through a diversified service portfolio of government advocacy, international trade, workforce development, business development, cost-saving benefits and business connections. The Surrey Board of Trade has over 6,000 member business contacts and over 60,000 employee contacts.
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