City of Surrey's 2021 - 2025 Financial Plan

MESSAGE FROMTHE CFO/GENERAL MANAGER, FINANCE

To the Mayor and Council, City of Surrey

It is my pleasure to submit the 2021 - 2025 Financial Plan for the City of Surrey. This Financial Plan has been formulated based on direction from you, as our Mayor and Council, and reflects key fundamental priorities while maintaining fiscal prudence. The Community Charter requires that Council adopt a Five- Year Financial Plan each year prior to the adoption of the annual Property Tax Bylaw. This 2021 - 2025 Financial Plan document reinforces the 2021 - 2025 Financial Plan Bylaws, which received final adoption on December 21, 2020.

Kam Grewal CFO/General Manager, Finance

The goal of the Five Year Financial Plan is to outline the financing of initiatives associated with the City’s major plans including the Sustainability Charter, the Official Community Plan, the Transportation Strategic Plan, the Parks, Recreation and Culture Strategic Plan, and the Surrey Public Library Strategic Plan, as well as Council’s key priorities. Funding these initiatives helps the City to meet the needs of its citizens. 1.0 OVERVIEW The 2021 - 2025 Financial Plan presents a Five-Year Consolidated Financial Plan, which includes forecasts for all revenues and expenditures related to the City’s operating and capital obligations over the next five years. The supporting information in this Five-Year Plan provides departments with their expenditure authority. Please note that in conjunction with known information, estimates and projections have been used for the years 2022 through 2025 in relation to revenues and expenditures. These projections are updated annually prior to Council’s review and approval of the Financial Plan for that year. The fiscal hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced the City to proactively implement a series of measures to mitigate the impacts on the City’s financial health. As a result of Mayor and Council supported economic stimulus initiatives for Surrey residents and businesses, a slight economic recovery, savings from cost avoidance and staff vacancies, and the Safe-Restart grant, a joint Federal and Provincial funding-based grant, the City has avoided the need to introduce any further cost avoidance in the adopted 2021 - 2025 Financial Plan, which is subject to change based on the pandemic and the related recovery. 2.0 GENERAL OPERATING FINANCIAL PLAN—SERVICE PRIORITIES General Operating supports most of the City’s service delivery needs through its various operating departments and services. Projected funding requirements are met by a combination of corresponding increases in general property tax, service delivery fees and other revenue sources in relation to service delivery levels. Furthermore, staff continuously explore opportunities that can leverage new found efficiencies in how we deliver our services to our residents.

City of Surrey | 2021—2025 Financial Plan | Executive Overview

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