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Contribution & Expenditure Overview
2017-2021 FINANCIAL PLAN
Preservation of Previous Investments in Capital
Replacement of Worn-out or Obsolete Assets
Meeting the Demands of Growth
New Projects
Aging capital assets require more
maintenance and upkeep. Major
maintenance is designed to restore assets
to the state they were in when the original
investment was made. The need to
maintain assets often receives less
attention than the need for new facilities,
which is understandable where the need
to “re-invest” in existing infrastructure is
virtually invisible to the taxpayer.
However, timely maintenance work is
important. Consider, for example, the
City’s extensive network of roads. Timely
road repaving allows the City to avoid
large scale rehabilitation work. Delaying
repaving merely defers an even larger
fiscal problem to future years.
Contributions from operating are
normally required to pay for this
maintenance work.
The City can save costs in the long run by
replacing aged assets instead of repairing
or maintaining them, as newer assets are
often more technologically-advanced and
energy efficient. Statutory Reserve Funds
are used to pay for the replacement of
worn-out or obsolete assets.
They are established and replenished by
transferring funds from general revenue.
When management decides an asset
needs to be replaced, it seeks budget
authority through the current year's
budget process.
Each year the City’s population increases
as more people choose to call Surrey their
home. This increase results in heightened
demand on the City’s financial resources
to pay for facilities and other capital
infrastructure that meets the City’s
standards and is acceptable to residents.
Libraries, recreation centres, and fire
halls typically cost several million
dollars and cannot be funded in the same
way as statutory and asset maintenance
projects. There are always more potential
projects than there is available funding.
Many proposed projects compete for the
City’s limited resources. The City’s capital
planning process helps to prioritize new
projects.
Surrey's total population, as of
December 2016, is estimated at
526,280 residents.
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