Surrey police chief calls for audit of city’s costings

The Chief Constable of the Surrey Police Service (SPS), Norm Lipinski, is calling for an independent audit of the city’s costings, claiming they’re “inflated and mischaracterized.”

The city released a drafted five-year budget Feb. 18, which shows a proposed 9.5 per cent property tax increase in 2023 which could go towards policing transition costs, if approved.

Lipinski says Surrey’s financial numbers cause increasing public concern, adding these numbers seem to question the viability of the SPS.

“Surrey residents don’t know who to believe and, quite frankly, I don’t blame them. There are many benefits that municipal policing will bring to Surrey, however, I certainly understand that cost is a significant factor to residents,” said Lipinski.

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• Surrey property tax could rise for policing: ‘We have no choice’

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• Surrey mayor threatens one-off tax hike if SPS transition continues

In January, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said the transition would cost $235 million more than keeping the RCMP as the police of jurisdiction. Although on Saturday, Locke said keeping the RCMP was a $116.6 million shortfall from a transition to SPS.

Lipinski says an audit would help shed more light on the situation for taxpayers.

“SPS would fully support an independent audit involving SPS, the City, and the RCMP in order to ensure taxpayers get the clarity they deserve on the policing transition,” said Lipinski.

SPS spokesperson Ian MacDonald says the newly drafted budget is causing more confusion.

“Some of those numbers are actually costs that would be incurred by the RCMP and so it’s a little bit mind-boggling that it seems the direction of the city and the mayor is to blame SPS for all costs, whether they’re past, present, or future.”

MacDonald admits there will be costs regardless of whether the SPS stays or goes.

“What we think is happening is a very broad spotlight is pointed at any of the SPS-related expenditures, but not enough light is being shone on the costs of undoing the transition. And those costs aren’t just financial, those costs — most importantly — speak to public safety, not just for the City of Surrey but also for the province of British Columbia. I would say this is one of the inherent dangers of when you mix things like partisan politics and partisan public safety.”

In a statement from the SPS Monday afternoon, it says the following factors should be considered:

• The slowdown of deployments and cessation of RCMP demobilizations since the October 2022 municipal election. This added an estimated $5M in costs without the demobilization of RCMP officers.
• The City’s proposed addition of 25 new RCMP officers and 4 administrative staff in 2023.
• The retention of the RCMP would actually cost taxpayers $50M more in 2023 than continuing the transition to SPS, as there would be no need for the costs to “wind down” SPS (severance, legal, etc.).
• The fact that SPS officers currently make up 45 per cent of the City’s current targeted strength of 734 officers. If SPS was allowed to continue, that would increase to 80-90 per cent by the end of 2023.

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke is interviewed in City Hall on Monday February 20th, 2023. (CityNews Image)

If approved, the tax hike would potentially lead to families paying hundreds more in levies and Surrey City Councillor Linda Annis doesn’t think many people can afford it.

“An average household now would face a tax increase of about $400 a year. We need to have a re-look at the budget.”

Annis feels the presented budget is full of “speculation,” and she thinks each party should be in one room to crunch the numbers and then the budget can be nailed down.

“I have no idea. I’ve been asking for the real numbers, what will it really cost if we go back to the RCMP or if we move forward with the Surrey Police Service? I’m getting a different set of numbers depending on who I ask.

When the mayor was running [in the election], she said if we continue on with the Surrey Police Service it would cost $500 million over the next five years, then the number came out that it was $250 million. We then had a report done about transitioning back to the RCMP, the RCMP, and the Surrey Police Service had a different number.”

A decision on what’s happening with the SPS was supposed to come down late last month, instead, the provincial government — which will make the final decision — said it was delaying it because it needed more information.

For now, a transition back to the RCMP hasn’t been approved. Locke said Saturday things will be revisited if the province comes back with something different.

“Council voted to keep RCMP as the police of jurisdiction,” she explained. “We have to go with what we know. Council made a decision to keep the RCMP and that’s how we’re moving forward,” she explained.

With files from Cole Schisler and OMNI