SURREY, B.C. - Surrey’s new mayor and council were elected on a promise to freeze property taxes at zero per cent for their whole four-year term. On Monday night, November 9, that promise gets its first test, when council’s first regular meeting takes up motions to proceed on all 15 of the commitments the new council was elected on.
What is actually happening on Monday
In its November 3 statement, the City of Surrey said council will bring forward motions to proceed on each of the 15 commitments, and listed commitment number two in plain words: “Freeze property taxes for four years.” The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers at Surrey City Hall, is open to the public, and is livestreamed. Apna News reported the full list of 15 commitments when the new council was sworn in: Surrey’s new council and its 15 election promises.
What a motion to proceed does, and what it does not do
A motion to proceed is a direction to act on the commitment. It is not, by itself, a tax freeze. Surrey’s actual tax rates are set later, through the City’s financial plan and its annual tax rates bylaw, which is where a zero-per-cent increase would have to be written into numbers. Until that bylaw passes, the freeze is a promise in progress, not a policy on your bill.
Two other things are worth understanding before next year’s tax notice arrives. First, the City controls only the municipal portion of your property tax bill. School taxes and levies for regional services are set by other bodies and can move independently. Second, even with a zero-per-cent change in the tax rate, an individual home’s bill can still change if its assessed value rises or falls relative to other Surrey homes, because the same total is shared out by assessment.
What it means for you
If the freeze is carried through the budget process, Surrey homeowners would see the City’s portion of their tax bill held flat for the term, a real difference after years of increases. Watch two moments: Monday’s vote, which shows whether the commitment survives first contact with the council chamber, and the financial plan in the new year, which is where the promise becomes arithmetic. Surrey property taxes are due July 2 each year.
(Source: City of Surrey, November 3, 2026)
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