Surrey Board of Trade ‘cautiously’ supports city tax hikes

Taxes are set to rise by $137 for the average Surrey home this year

Anita Huberman, CEO of Surrey Board of Trade.

Anita Huberman, CEO of Surrey Board of Trade.

SURREY — The Surrey Board of Trade says it is again ‘cautiously’ supporting city hall’s tax increases.

The business group said the same after last year’s hikes.

See more: Taxes set to rise an average of $137 for Surrey homeowners

“Surrey offers one of the lowest tax regimes,” notes a SBoT release. “We need the city to continue investing in infrastructure and enmities to make this a world-class city and decisions need to be made on the comparative tax threshold.”

The business group’s release says it wants a “robust civic amenity plan.”

In its release, the SBoT asks “Does it make sense for us to be the lowest tax regime?

“Are there other opportunities to derive revenue?” it continues. “We must make strategic investments now, not only in parks, recreation centres, but also cultural corridor investments, convention centre infrastructure and more. The Surrey Board of Trade is committed to working with the city. There may be other ways of collecting revenue other than tax revenue. These are provoking questions, new paradigms for financial planning, that must be considered.”

amy.reid@thenownewspaper.com

 

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