Surrey Police Service bids for $141.5M in proposed budget

The Surrey Police Service has released its proposed 2024 budget, claiming there’s plenty of money to pay for the ongoing police transition.

The SPS is asking for $141.5 million this year. The agency says that figure is based on the city’s own numbers, carryover from the last fiscal year, underspent money from Surrey’s police transition fund, and one-time funding support from the B.C. government.

The service notes Surrey has allocated $214 million for policing in its own 2023-27 fiscal plan, with $83 million in carryover from 2023. It adds there’s $10 million from the police transition fund, and $33 million in funding remaining from the province.

With all those figures added up, the SPS is still asking for less than what’s available.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Listen to CityNews 1130 LIVE now!

If approved, the SPS says it can have 408 deployable officers ready by the end of 2024, to raise its number to 526 officers by year’s end.

The City of Surrey has funding in place for 785 officers.

The figures were released publicly Thursday by Mike Serr, who has been serving as administrator of the Surrey Police Board since late last year.

Serr says he’s hopeful the city will accept the proposed budget.

“We need to work with our partners in the RCMP and the City of Surrey on eliminating the overlap in administrative costs that come with having two police agencies working within the city,” he said, adding any delay will make it difficult for the SPS to scale up its force.

“For me, as the administrator of the board, it is critically important to get the numbers out, to get the facts out, for the City of Surrey to know, the residents to know, that we are asking for 42 per cent of the overall budget.”

He says the SPS presented the proposed budget to city hall in November, but hasn’t heard much back since then. Serr adds there are two and a half years remaining in the transition from the RCMP to the SPS.

“I believe this budget, along with its underlying assumptions, will give city council confidence in the numbers associated with moving this transition forward,” Serr said.

Farnworth gives SPS plan seal of approval

Meanwhile, B.C. Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth says the budget proposal shows the transition can continue in a way that won’t affect taxpayers.

Locke has warned of potential costs to residents several times in her bids against the SPS. However, Farnworth says the province’s offer to help with transition costs is sufficient.

“I’m confident in the $150 million that is there from the province and I’m confident in the work done by professionals, the administrator, in terms of putting together a budget that’s within the fiscal framework that Surrey itself has laid out,” he said Thursday.

“The budget shows the path forward in a way that is responsible, respectful of Surrey’s three-year fiscal plan as it relates to policing, and that there’s not a need for more tax increases which the mayor has been talking about, and they want to work cooperatively with the City of Surrey.”

Farnworth says the city still hasn’t taken the $150 million from the provincial government.

Should the mayor and council have an issue with this budget, the minister says there are legislative processes to handle disputes through the Director of Police Services.

This is the latest in the ongoing controversy over the switch from the Surrey RCMP to a municipal police service. The process, which began under former mayor Doug McCallum, has seen many obstacles in the years since it began, with Mayor Brenda Locke fighting hard to prevent the transition.

Last year, Farnworth ordered Surrey to continue with the police transition, prompting legal challenges from Locke.

In November, the province suspended the Surrey Police Board — whose chair is Locke — and appointed an administrator to help move the transition from the RCMP along.

Since that time, Serr, a former Abbotsford Police chief, has been serving as administrator to perform the functions of the board and help with the process. Farnworth said at the time that board members would be able to resume their roles once Serr’s “appointment concludes.”

The functions of the board include employing all sworn and civilian staff of SPS, setting policy and providing direction to the chief constable, overseeing the budget for SPS, and being the authority for service or policy complaints against the municipal police force.

Meanwhile, Farnworth has announced a media availability for Thursday morning. Stay with CityNews for the latest on-air and online.