Population growth and high property taxes take their toll on B.C.'s second-largest city
It was revealed earlier this month that Surrey police will take over oversight of policing in B.C.'s second-largest city by November, ending six years of uncertainty since residents elected former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum in 2018.
But while current Mayor Brenda Locke now says she is open to the B.C. government-mandated transition of policing functions from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), business advocates in the city say they will be keeping a close eye on the success of the new force.
“It's definitely going to have an impact on costs,” said Locke, who has been a staunch opponent of the move.
“We are thrilled to be working with Surrey Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SBOT) to bring this exciting opportunity to the community,” said Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SBOT). Bib She has spoken to business owners who are concerned that the new police force will be expensive and have fewer officers per capita than the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“It's always businesses that bear the biggest tax burden,” she said, adding that increased police costs could lead to higher taxes for everyone.
Fewer police officers on the streets in the 316-square-kilometer city could reverse a positive trend in falling property crime, she added.
Statistics Canada data shows overall property crime in Surrey fell to 4,468 incidents in the first three months of 2024, down 12.9 per cent from 5,128 incidents in the same three months last year.
There were 127 corporate intrusions in the first quarter of this year, seven fewer than the 134 recorded in the first quarter of 2023.
Still, the city is not immune to a broader trend of increasing shoplifting, although the rising cost of living may also be a factor.
Theft is hurting the bottom line of British Columbia's retailers, with what police in the province are calling “organized theft operations” becoming more common.
Reported shoplifting offences in Surrey increased by more than 27.3 per cent to 886 in the first three months of the year, up from 680 in the same period last year.
Surrey's key industrial land base for the future
Surrey is working to attract manufacturing and distribution businesses, particularly by expanding its industrial land base in Campbell Heights.
Decades ago, that area of South Surrey was mainly rural, with large swaths of woodland and a former gravel pit.
The transformation into one of the region's largest industrial property clusters has been controversial, sparking clashes between proponents of the development and those who criticize its negative environmental impact.
Locke said it was clear the industry in the area was set to grow. Bib.
“We're rebuilding the road,” she said. “16th Avenue is going to be renovated and we're going to have much better access to Campbell Heights, so truck drivers will have much easier access.”
She said the amount of warehouse and distribution space in Campbell Heights will increase because Metro Vancouver needs industrial land and Campbell Heights is ideally located close to the U.S. border and major regional roads.
“There's a lot of straight lines,” Locke said. “One, of course, goes south to the border crossing, and the other goes straight north to Highway 1.”
A shortage of industrial land will drive up land prices, discouraging companies from locating in British Columbia.
Industrial landowners in Surrey are seeing BC Assessment increase the estimated value of their land and the city increase their property tax rates.
“We are thrilled to be working with S&R Sawmills to bring this technology to market,” said Jeff Dahl, president and CEO of S&R Sawmills. Bib The 60-year-old family-owned business, which employs about 300 people on a 120-acre site along the Fraser River, says its taxes have risen sharply in recent years.
“I wish there were tax breaks to stimulate the industry,” he said.
Sent by Darl Bib Tax data for the 7.66 acres of land on which the sawmill sits. His other land includes two more sawmills and a log chip plant.
The assessed value of the property in 2024 is $37,299,400, 166 percent higher than the $14,005,800 in 2019. When the higher property tax rate is added to the property's increasing value, the 2024 property tax bill will be $652,482.82, according to Dahl's records.
That's 276.7 percent more than the $173,230.55 he paid in property taxes in 2019.
At the same time, Dahl's business has struggled over the past five years amid ongoing challenges facing B.C.'s forestry sector.
He said the tax cuts would benefit his business and nearby ventures such as Teal Jones, which are operating under court-approved creditor protection.
Teal Jones employs about 1,000 people, 400 of whom are based in Surrey, and operates three sawmills that primarily produce timber, cedar boards and roofing shingles.
“It's scary to think of them going away,” Dahl said of Teal Jones, “first of all it's a threat to jobs and then obviously to the timber industry and the whole economy of B.C. We're only a few kilometres away from them and we face a lot of the same challenges.”
No one from Teal Jones responded. BibRequest for an interview.
Dahl said he plans to meet with state officials to propose ways to make logs more available and cheaper, including lowering logging fees.
“They seem to react when the market is up, but they don't seem to react as quickly when the market is down,” he said.
In the early 2000s, logging and timber employed about 90,000 people in British Columbia, according to Central 1 estimates. Last year, that number was about 50,000.
In 2005, British Columbia's total harvest volume was 86 million cubic metres, an increase made to save trees damaged by the Japanese pine sawyer. Last year, the harvest volume was 62 million cubic metres.
Dahl said he is committed to his business and his employees and has no plans to close the plant or sell the property.
Food production on ALR land could ease supply shortages
Business owners, industry advocates and local politicians say the state government and the Agricultural Land Commission should change regulations to allow food manufacturing and related businesses to operate on Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) land.
This, they say, will ease demand for existing industrial land and increase employment and economic activity.
“There's a delicate balance to be struck to ensure any changes we make don't impact affordability for farmers,” Premier David Eby said at the Fraser Valley Economic Summit in May. “We want to continue producing food in the ALR. We don't want to put farmers in a position where they're squeezed out by high prices.”
Rock said Bib She supports more food production on ALR land.
She said she has had discussions with representatives of dairy farms that want to build manufacturing facilities on ALR land.
“I think it's fantastic that people can go and buy cheese directly from the farm,” she says, “and having production at ALR makes perfect sense to me.”
Bib We spoke with Darryl Frost, owner of Central City Brewing Co. and ALNA Packaging, which imports, resells and distributes aluminum cans and lids.
Frost said Central City Brewing Co. imports millions of cans each year through ALNA to package its beers.
Frost said if ALNA could build a canning plant on ALR's land, it would do so, so the cans could be sold to Central City Brewing and other businesses.
“There are literally billions of cans coming into B.C. by truck, so if we want to ease congestion, we should build manufacturing here and create jobs here,” he said.
Attracting companies involved in agricultural technology and food manufacturing has been a key priority for Surrey business promoters for many years.
Simon Fraser University's BC Agritech Innovation Centre is based on the university's Surrey campus, and the Surrey Technology and Skills Centre is also scheduled to open today (June 25), Huberman said.
The facility will serve as a hub for research and innovation, aiming to create global opportunities for the business ecosystem of Surrey Health and Technology District, a business park in Surrey city centre.
SBOT and Western Community College partnered to create the center, which will initially open in a 2,300-square-foot space that will also house a second SBOT office.
“We have a vision,” Huberman said, “We're starting small because we're a nonprofit, but the vision is great and we believe in it.”
New projects bring vitality to fast-growing area
Surrey is being inundated with new residents, putting pressure on social services such as health and education.
Efforts are underway to expand services and add needed infrastructure, including recreational facilities.
Statistics Canada's 2021 census showed Vancouver had 662,248 residents and Surrey had 560,320 residents, but noted the gap in size between the Lower Mainland's two most populous cities is narrowing.
National statistics show Surrey's population has grown by 9.74 per cent since 2016, while Vancouver's population only grew by 4.87 per cent in the same period.
Rock said Bib Her staff's best estimate is that Surrey already has 650,000 residents, including people living in basements and those who may not have filled out census forms.
She predicts that by 2030 her city will be the most populous in the Lower Mainland.
New home construction is driving growth.
She estimates there are about 34,000 new homes in various stages of development in Surrey, with around 5,200 new homes completed so far this year.
“When you look at the increase in the number of doors we're actually building in this city, it's amazing,” Locke said.
Surrey's marginally cheaper prices are attracting young families, which is wreaking havoc on the city's school system.
The Surrey School District estimates there are about 82,000 students in its district. By comparison, there are about 50,000 students in the Vancouver School Board system.
Locke said the state government was not providing enough funding to build new schools or expand existing ones.
That means many schools are meeting over Zoom instead of in person, Locke said, adding that this scenario reduces interaction between students and undermines a healthy education.
“In Surrey, some school districts have more children using portable toilets than the total number of children in their entire school district,” she said. “We have portable toilets. This is not good.”
Healthcare facilities are similarly facing overcrowding.
Surrey Memorial Hospital is so busy that the emergency ward is sometimes so overcrowded that people seeking admission have to wait outside. On the upper floors, patients often lie in beds in the corridors.
Locke said about 80 per cent of patients at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock live in Surrey, so demand in Surrey is impacting health care in neighbouring cities.
The state government has committed to building a $2.9 billion hospital in Cloverdale and site preparation is underway.
“We're going to be putting shovels in the ground soon because we're getting close to the election,” Locke said, referring to the Oct. 19 state election.
As Surrey’s population grows, so does the need for more recreational facilities and better transport links.
Locke criticized the province for replacing the Pattullo Bridge with a new, four-lane bridge at a cost of $1.4 billion instead of a much larger bridge, but he is excited about the province's plan to extend Surrey's SkyTrain line to Langley. Construction on the $4 billion project has yet to begin.
Former Mayor McCallum has unveiled ambitious plans to build a 60,000-seat stadium in Surrey by 2022.
This idea has since been scaled back, with SBOT proposing a 12,000-seat stadium, ideally built in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and usable as a preparation area.
Locke likes the idea, but stressed that the project is still in the “very early stages.”
Even the location is unclear at this time.
Locke said the city could build the stadium on Cloverdale property or on city-owned land in the City Center district.
“Stadiums create energy,” Locke said, explaining why the city needs one. “We're a young community. We have a workforce that's ready to work.”
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