Surrey budget 2024 engagement

Sep. 16

Happy Cities led community engagement to ensure that the City of Surrey’s 2024 budget reflects the priorities of diverse residents.

Aerial view of a cityscape with modern buildings, green spaces, and a clear blue sky with mountains in the background — Surrey City Centre, with Holland Park on the left. (City of Surrey)

Everyone deserves a say in city spending.

Surrey is a diverse community, comprising six town centres and people of many ages, backgrounds, languages, cultures, and interests.

Annual budgets ensure that cities can meet the needs of their evolving, diverse communities. Each year, cities set budgets to outline how they will fund programs, services, public spaces, and infrastructure. Although cities are not required to ask the public about their priorities for the budget, Surrey wants to involve the community in this process, recognizing that cities are stronger when they are shaped by everyone.

To the public, budgets can be daunting and complex. And with rising inflation and costs of living, clear communication around how cities spend their funds is essential.

Happy Cities worked with the City of Surrey to reach as many residents and local businesses as possible to hear their priorities for 2024. Through this engagement, we aimed to demystify the budget process, ensuring that residents understand where their tax dollars go to—and how City spending on public programs, services, and infrastructure can improve quality of life for everyone. We synthesized what we heard into key community priorities for the 2024 budget, culminating in a What We Heard Report to City Council to help align spending with the needs of Surrey residents.

What goes in a city budget?

Surrey’s annual budget funds things like libraries, museums, parks, recreation facilities, garbage collection, fire halls, street upgrades, utilities infrastructure, and more.