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CITY OF SURREY
GLOSSARY
2016-2020 FINANCIAL PLAN
Activity
- Departmental efforts that contribute to the achievement of a specific set of
program objectives; the smallest unit of the program budget.
Annualize
- Taking changes that occurred mid-year and calculating their cost for a full
year, for the purpose of preparing an annual budget.
Appropriated Surplus
– Funds set aside for a non-statutory specific purpose.
Appropriation
- A legal authorization to incur obligations and to make expenditures for
specific purposes.
Assessed Value
- The value that is attributed to real estate and certain personal property
by the Assessor as a basis for levying property taxes.
Assessment Ratio
- The ratio at which the tax rate is applied to the assessment base.
Assets
- Resources owned or held by the City that have monetary value.
BC Assessment Authority (BCAA)
- The organization that is responsible for assessing
property values in British Columbia.
Balanced Budget
- A budget in which budgeted revenues are equal to budgeted
expenditures, thus neither a budget deficit nor a budget surplus exists.
Bonds
- A certificate evidencing a debt on which the issuer promises to pay the holder a
specified amount of interest based on the coupon rate, for a specified length of time, and
to repay the loan on its maturity. Assets are pledged as security for a bond issue, except
in the case of government bonds.
Budget
- A plan of financial operations embodying an estimate of proposed
expenditures for a given period and the proposed means of financing them.
Biodiversity
- The degree of variation of life forms within a given area.
Build Surrey
- A program that consist of a series of large-scale capital projects across
the City to accommodate business development and population growth.
Business Improvement Area (BIA)
- A specific area within which businesses pay fees to
fund improvements in commercial business potential.
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)
- Union representing the City's unionized
staff.
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