Sharing the budget with the community was the right thing to do: Councillor Linda Annis

Surrey, BC (Jan 25, 2024): Surrey First Councillor Linda Annis has thanked the Surrey Police Service for making their budget public today in an effort to be transparent with taxpayers. The 2024 SPS budget is 42 per cent of the total police budget for the city and counts on the RCMP downsizing as the SPS staffs up.

“Mayor Locke has had the budget since November and has not made an effort to deal with it, so making the budget public gives our community the numbers that taxpayers need to better understand the transition process that is underway,” said Annis. “The budget presented by the SPS makes sense and fits within the overall policing envelope we have for our city. Running two police departments costs our taxpayers time and money, and we need to get on with this transition which the province has made law. The SPS is becoming the police department here in Surrey, so let’s get on with it and build the very best police service.”

According to the SPS, the full transition will be completed over the next two and a half years. The SPS budget was assessed by Deloitte, one of Canada’s leading audit and financial advisory firms.

“It’s time to put this political fight behind us and get on with completing the transition, and these numbers from SPS that have been reviewed by Deloitte should give our taxpayers confidence that there is enough money to do this work and get it done in a timely fashion,” added Annis.