British ColumbiaMayor Brenda Locke says Surrey taxpayers can’t afford the provisional 2026 budget request of more than $330 million from the provincially-appointed Surrey Police Board that was released on Tuesday night.Objection to proposed budget another of Brenda Locke’s ‘anti-SPS political footballs,’ says mayoral candidateThe Canadian Press · Posted: Dec 03, 2025 8:55 PM EST | Last Updated: 3 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke says she won’t support the provincially-appointed police board’s budget request, which asked for a $91-million increase in funding. (Ben Nelms/CBC)The mayor of Surrey, B.C., says she won’t support a provisional budget request for the city’s police force, calling a $91-million increase in funding “extraordinarily excessive.”Brenda Locke, who strongly opposed the city’s transition from the RCMP to its own municipal police, says that the budget for the Surrey Police Service (SPS) would necessitate an 18-per-cent property tax hike if it were approved.Locke says Surrey taxpayers cannot afford the provisional 2026 budget request of more than $330 million from the provincially appointed Surrey Police Board that was released on Tuesday night.The Surrey Police Board said in a statement, in response to Locke’s statements, that it hopes the mayor and council reconsider the proposed budget.It added that it had expected the municipal government to undertake “ongoing dialogue” and work collaboratively to resolve the issue.WATCH | Surrey Police Service takes over as police of jurisdiction:After years of divisive debate, Surrey Police Service replaces RCMPThe City of Surrey officially transitioned from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service on Friday. It’s the biggest policing transition in Canadian history, and has been a long, divisive and expensive journey to get here. As Michelle Ghoussoub reports, the full transfer of power will take years to complete. Locke won the 2022 municipal election after pledging to reverse a transition to a municipal force that was already underway.She battled the British Columbia government over the issue, including going to the courts, before the transition was ultimately forced through by the province.The protracted transition to the Surrey Police Service was long opposed by Locke. (Ben Nelms/CBC)In her latest statement, Locke says she remains “committed to supporting a meaningful increase in funding to hire additional officers” to support the transition, but she cannot support the budget “as presented.””It is extraordinarily excessive, and Surrey taxpayers cannot afford it,” she says in the statement, noting that council had previously secured $250 million in provincial funding to address “anticipated increased costs” from the police transition.”Surrey taxpayers want to see action to improve public safety, and we’re prepared to make those investments,” the mayor said.”But they also expect us to be prudent with public money and avoid significant tax hikes at a time when affordability remains a top priority.”WATCH | Locke calls for more police officers amid extortion cases:More police alone won’t solve extortion crisis in Surrey, B.C., says criminologistLast week, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke made a request for 150 extra police officers in her city, amid a wave of extortion threats aimed at residents. While the request has received general support from both the province and the federal government, Wade Deisman, a criminologist at the University of the Fraser Valley, questions how realistic it is given a lack of policing staff across the country. He also says that the community has a role to play in helping solve extortion cases.The police board says its role is to “determine what is required for adequate and effective policing” and to finish the transition, and other municipalities typically see a collaboration during the review of the budget’s initial draft.”Unfortunately, the [mayor] appears to want to take a different approach,” the board says in its statement, adding that it has requested a joint meeting to review the budget in an effort to avoid a property tax increase.”With all of the things happening in the city — including public safety concerns about extortions and Mayor Locke’s call for 150 additional police officers to counter extortions — the people of Surrey will want … to see their board and council working together to ensure the policing budget meets their policing priorities,” the statement says.Opponent weighs inSurrey Coun. Linda Annis — who is challenging Locke for the mayor’s position in next year’s municipal elections — accused the mayor of “doing everything she can to delay and derail” the police transition and “damage the reputation” of the municipal force.Annis calls the objection to the provisional budget another of the mayor’s “anti-SPS political footballs” while also blaming the rising costs on Locke’s attempts to reverse the transition.Mayoral candidate Linda Annis, who is currently a city councillor, called Locke’s opposition to the provisional budget another of the mayor’s ‘anti-SPS political footballs.’ (Ben Nelms/CBC)”Delays cost money, and when Brenda Locke failed in her costly court case, the SPS needed to ramp up and that came with costs as they tried to make up for lost time,” Annis says, while noting that Surrey police finished with a $25-million surplus this year.”To single out one year’s draft budget is simply playing politics and makes no sense.”Locke says Surrey municipal staff and council will now “conduct all proper due diligence to review and scrutinize” the provisional police budget.The provisional budget document released by Surrey City Hall shows the proposed increase in requested funding comes largely from a 36-per-cent jump in “salaries and benefits,” accounting for about $62 million of the increase.”For 2026, a total net budget of $331,515,621 is required for adequate and effective policing and law enforcement in Surrey,” the provisional budget document says. “Key priorities include hiring additional sworn members, expanding civilian staff, and building technology infrastructure to support municipal policing.”Surrey police recently expanded its jurisdiction to all of South Surrey and anticipates the transition to be complete at some point in 2026-27.
Surrey, B.C., mayor says proposed police budget would mean 18% property tax hike
