Surrey taxpayers looking at a 2.6% property tax hike

Surrey taxpayers looking at a 2.6% property tax hike

Published 11:00 am Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Surrey is proposing to impose a property tax hike of 2.6 per cent this year to be voted on at council’s March 9 meeting after a related corporate report is presented to the finance committee’s public hearing.

The public hearing will begin at 2:30 p.m. at City Hall, at 13450 104 Avenue.

A corporate report by city manager Rob Costanzo and Surrey’s finance manager Kam Grewal indicates the 2.6 per cent tax increase, if approved, would work out to about $75 for an average single-family home to cover “general inflationary pressures,” city operations, and “new resources” for police, the city’s public safety department, the fire department and bylaw enforcement.

“Due to additional financial c0ntribution from TransLink to support regional transportation investments, no increase to the Roads & Traffic Safety Levy is required for 2026,” the report reads. Also, user fees will “generally” increase by up to three per cent “to predominately offset the cost increases associated with providing City services.”

Mayor Brenda Locke is quoted in a City of Surrey press release as stating that the “modest” proposed tax increase “will keep our property taxes among the lowest in all of the Metro region, while still making significant investments in public safety, roads, parks and facilities – and to build new major projects to serve our growing population and economy.

“For 2026, $284.5 million is proposed for policing, including $44.4 million in new funding,” Locke continued. “This proposed budget supports the Surrey Police Service’s request to hire 189 additional officers, and it represents $84.2 million more than SPS actually spent in 2025. Council will have an opportunity to support a strong, responsible investment in public safety.”

The proposed $779 general capital budget over five years includes among “key” investments a 10,000-seat arena downtown, completing the Centre Block development to house SFU’s school of medicine and also covers $358 million in road and other transportation improvements.

Meantime, Surrey council last year ratified a 2.8 per cent general property tax increase that worked out to about $77 for the average assessed single-family home. In 2024, council approved a budget that included a six per cent property tax hike, a one per cent increase in the roads and tax levy, and a secondary suite fee increase on top of increased utility rate fees.

On January 26, council voted to increase water utility rates by 5.3 per cent in 2026 over 2025, hike sewer utility rates by 1.37 per cent, raise by 1.5 per cent the 2026 drainage/dyking/flood protection utility parcel tax for all property classes, and increase solid waste utility rates by 1.2 per cent and district energy utility rates by 6.4 per cent.