Surrey to use new provincial fund to shave 5% from proposed 17.5% property tax hike

Councillors in Surrey, B.C., plan to use newly allotted provincial funding to reduce the city's proposed 17.5 percent property tax increase slated for the 2023 civic budget.

During a finance committee meeting on Monday, councillors voted to send the budget back to staff so an $89.9 million allotment from the province's Growing Communities Fund could be applied to the bottom line.

A statement from the city says council has asked staff to use the money to cut the overall proposed property tax increase from 17.5 percent to no more than 12.5 per cent.

The revised budget is expected to be ready for review at the council's meeting on April 3.

Nearly 10 per cent of the original 17.5 per cent tax hike was related to the cost of Mayor Brenda Locke's pledge to keep the Surrey RCMP detachment and scrap a transition to a municipal police force.