White Rock council debates $4 million surplus
Published 9:00 am Saturday, May 2, 2026
The City of White Rock has a little more cash on hand for unplanned expenditures than expected.
A report from financial services director Candice Gartry to council at last Monday’s meeting (April 27) revealed a windfall – an uncommitted surplus of $4 million left over from the city’s 2025 general operating fund.
Gartry’s report recommended allocating the full amount to the Community Hub reserve, which was put forward in a motion by Coun. Bill Lawrence.
That motion was voted down by the majority of council, who ultimately decided to allocate $3 million of the surplus to the Community Hub reserve, while keeping back $1 million to create a fund for unplanned one-time purchases.
“There are plenty of one-time purchases,” Trevelyan said.
“For example, the purchase of a beach wheelchair. For example, the purchase of a piece of equipment for the city; for the purchase of many other one-offs that we’re constantly told we have no money for.”
“A $4 million surplus – some of this should go to residents, and what we can use for today, in some projects going forward,” said Coun. Susan Bains.
Gartry noted the top two contributors to the surplus were the city spending less than estimated on wages and benefits and on RCMP contract costs in 2025, with much of the unused funds related to ongoing position vacancies or delays in filling vacant positions.
In response to a question from Trevelyan, Gartry agreed that the city practices budgeting for each year based on a very conservative estimates of costs, allowing a wide protective margin – municipal governments aren’t allowed to run deficits, as any deficit would create a potentially disastrous impact on the following year’s property tax bill.
“If we were to have a deficit, the full amount of the deficit has to be created as an expense item in the next year’s property taxes, according to the (Community) Charter,” she said.
“So if we were to have a $2 million deficit, that would automatically, next year, be a $2 million property tax increase, plus whatever other amounts were needed for collective agreements and other costs.”
Community Hub senior project manager Darcy Dupont, responding to a question from Coun. David Chesney, said that any money from the surplus would go on top of $10 million currently in the reserve for the Community Hub (the city has long-range plans to create a hub, including city hall offices, plus a library, daycare and other facilities on the site of the current city hall).
He said that having some $14 million in the reserve would put the project in the position of having around half of the necessary funds for the hub’s first phase.
“It puts us in a much better position when we’re talking to funders – (we’d be) at a kind of maximum leverage, with over half the capital for the project.”
But in answer to a question from Coun. Elaine Cheung, Dupont said any addition to the fund would be welcome.
“Any addition, I’d accept and be happy with,” he said.
A motion from Trevelyan – amended by Chesney – to allot $3 million to the hub and $1 million to an unallocated reserve was passed, with Mayor Megan Knight, and councillors Lawrence and Cheung opposed.