Editor:
Re: Many lower assessments for south-end properties, Jan. 12.
PAN reported that the assessed value of many south-end homes are down compared to last year.
After some mind-boggling property tax increases in 2017, Peace Arch News also reported last month that Surrey plans a land tax increase of 3.8 per cent for 2018 (Average household to pay $3,413.92, Dec. 1), roughly double the Canadian inflation rate.
Does this look strange to anyone else?
All we ever seem to get for an explanation is a breakdown on where the increases come from, with nothing on why. And never do we get a commitment from Surrey First – which consists of the entire Surrey municipal council – to hold the line on expenditures and give us a chance to at least have our incomes catch up with the municipality’s appetite to spend.
The hard-working bureaucrats working for Surrey prepare the annual budget, but its our elected officials that approve it. And that’s something to remember when we go to the polls to elect a new council in October 2018.
A.L. Hills, Surrey