SURREY -- The mayor of Surrey, B.C., says she won't support a provisional budget request for the city's police force, calling a $91-million increase in funding "extraordinarily excessive."
Brenda Locke, who strongly opposed the city's transition from the RCMP to its own municipal police, says that the budget for the Surrey Police Service would necessitate an 18-per-cent property tax hike if it were approved.
Locke says Surrey taxpayers cannot afford the provisional 2026 budget request of more than $330 million from the provincially appointed Surrey Police Board that was released on Tuesday night.
Locke won the 2022 municipal election after pledging to reverse a transition to a municipal force that was already underway.
She battled the British Columbia government over the issue, including going to the courts, before the transition was ultimately forced through by the province.
In her latest statement, Locke says she remains "committed to supporting a meaningful increase in funding to hire additional officers" to support the transition, but she cannot support the budget "as presented."
"It is extraordinarily excessive, and Surrey taxpayers cannot afford it," she says in the statement, noting that council had previously secured $250 million in provincial funding to address "anticipated increased costs" from the police transition.
"Surrey taxpayers want to see action to improve public safety, and we're prepared to make those investments. But they also expect us to be prudent with public money and avoid significant tax hikes at a time when affordability remains a top priority."
Locke says Surrey municipal staff and council will "conduct all proper due diligence to review and scrutinize" the provisional police budget.
The provisional budget document released by Surrey City Hall shows the proposed increase in requested funding comes largely from a 36-per-cent jump in "salaries and benefits," accounting for about $62 million of the increase.
"For 2026, a total net budget of $331,515,621 is required for adequate and effective policing and law enforcement in Surrey," the provisional budget document says. "Key priorities include hiring additional sworn members, expanding civilian staff, and building technology infrastructure to support municipal policing."
Surrey police recently expanded its jurisdiction to all of South Surrey and anticipates the transition to be complete at some point in 2026-2027.
This report by was first published Dec. 3, 2025.