More property tax for less crime in Surrey
Posted November 24, 2015 9:33 am.
Last Updated November 24, 2015 2:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS 1130) – A councillor in Surrey is clarifying why people in that city will be paying more in property taxes next year.
Finance Committee Chair, Tom Gill says while policing costs are a big part of it, it’s not all about trying to cover 100 extra officers promised for Surrey.
There will be more than 800 officers in Surrey once all 100 new ones are on the ground.
Sixteen more will be coming on in 2016.
Gill says the driving force behind the hike is a number of elements, including operational costs for all RCMP officers.
“We need to accommodate not only salaries and benefits, the uniforms, the police cars, the office space, the technology that is needed for each individual to do his job or her job.”
He adds, “So certainly when we’re looking at the entire element, the costs associated to the RCMP, just given some of the collective agreement impacts, given some of the impacts as it relates to some of the benefits, particularly some of the pension programs, again those have been higher than expected.”
Gill says if those 100 officers were never part of the picture, there would still be an increase.
He adds investments in amenities like rec centres and pools are also factors.
