City hall, police board, agree on $284.5M budget proposal for policing Surrey in 2026
Published 10:20 am Friday, February 20, 2026
Surrey city hall and the police board are contemplating a $284.5 million proposed budget this year for the Surrey Police Service to support the ongoing transition to the Surrey Police Service from the Surrey RCMP, featuring a $45 million increase in funding over 2025 and $100 million more in budget costs since 2021.
Mayor Brenda Locke said the “priority has always been to protect public safety while keeping taxes as low as possible” and that she’s “pleased to have a budget that furthers that balance.”
Board chairman Harley Chappell also spoke to the agreement, saying he’s “happy” both parties have reached “common ground on a police budget that provides the resources SPS needs to deliver services that the community deserves.”
But the Surrey Police Union has raised “urgent concerns” that this latest proposal cuts $46,954,590 from the policing budget and imposes $13,806,182 in staff reductions. A union-issued press release sets $158,510 as the yearly cost of a police officer here meaning that before taking into account impacts on equipment, IT and facilities “the staffing reduction alone represents the annual cost of approximately 87 cops.
Union president Ryan Buhrig said cutting nearly $47 million from policing “at the eleventh hour” while the city deals with the extortion crisis plaguing South Asian businesses and residents and the SPS is ramping up its operations “is reckless.”
“You cannot demand more policing, more visibility, and more capacity while simultaneously gutting the resources needed to deliver it,” Buhrig said.
In December Locke had raised the spectre of an 18 per cent property tax in 2026 if council were to approve an SPB ask for a “very significant” and “excessive” increase of $91 million over the previous budget. “As mayor, I am not prepared to support this budget now as presented. It is extraordinarily excessive, and Surrey taxpayers cannot afford it,” she stated in a press release that was issued on Dec. 3.
That iteration of the SPS 2026 provisional budget was presented to council in a special closed meeting on Dec. 1. Council voted to have it disclosed to the public, with councillors Linda Annis, Mike Bose, Mandeep Nagra and Doug Elford opposed. “For 2026, a total net budget of $331,515,621 is required for adequate and effective policing and law enforcement in Surrey,” that document reads.
On Friday the Safe Surrey Coalition – a rival slate to the mayor’s Surrey Connect – issued a press release accusing Locke of engaging in a “petty vendetta” aimed at sabotaging the SPS. “This is not a budget decision. This is a personal vendetta being taken out on Surrey’s public safety,” the SSC claims.
Surrey Councillor Doug Elford, of the SSC, said Premier David Eby “is to blame for this budget as he bent a knee to the mayor of Surrey and allowed politicians to take control over our police service.”
Eby revealed on February 3 an agreement had been struck between the provincial government and City of Surrey that vacancies on the SPB will only be filled by “mutual agreement between the mayor’s office and the provincial government through our public safety minister.
“The goal here is to deliver what local policing is meant to be for the people of Surrey – a police board that is reflective of the community, that directs police along the lines of community priorities,” he said.
Chappell defended the outgoing board members’ legacy, singing their praises after Eby announced their terms would not be renewed.