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Surrey looking at $10.7M budget shortfall because of policing expenditures

Corporate report by Kam Grewal, Surrey’s general manager of finance
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A second-quarter financial report to Surrey council forecasts a $10.7 million budget shortfall on account of “higher than budgeted” expenditures for policing.

“In light of this forecast, each department, including Surrey Police Services and the RCMP will be challenged with managing their respective budgets in a manner to minimize or eliminate the forecasted shortfall by end of year,” Kam Grewal, Surrey’s general manager of finance, advises council in the corporate report.

The report updates the City of Surrey’s financial activity for the second quarter of 2022 and compares it to the 2022 Financial Plan and the same period for 2021.

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The report was received by council Monday night with councillors Steven Pettigrew and Linda Annis opposed.

Earlier this month, the Surrey Police Board reported that the Surrey Police Service has “underspent” nearly $7 million of its operational budget. The board reported on the fledgling police force’s year-to-date expenditures to May 31 at its last board meeting, on July 6.

Grewal noted in his report, related to the second-quarter budget for policing operations, that City Police Support Service currently has a “favourable variance” of $1.4 million and that’s forecast to be $1.56 million by year’s end.

The Surrey Police Service, according to Grewal’s report, also has a “favourable variance” of $4.9 million, forecast to be $1.56 million by the end of the year, while the RCMP has an “unfavourable variance primarily due to a lower-than-expected rate of demobilization of RCMP members relative to the adopted budget” and is currently forecast to have a “negative variance” of $23.85 million at year’s end.



tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com

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About the Author: Tom Zytaruk

I write unvarnished opinion columns and unbiased news reports for the Surrey Now-Leader.
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