Image: City of Chilliwack / Mayor Ken Popove (left) with Upper Fraser Valley RCMP Superintendent Darren Pankratz.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

2026 City of Chilliwack budget

Mayor Popove says majority of city’s proposed 4.9% tax increase goes straight to the RCMP in Surrey

Dec 4, 2025 | 9:30 AM

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove says the majority of Chilliwack’s proposed 4.9 per cent property tax increase in 2026 is going straight to RCMP administration in Surrey.

Mayor Popove told 89.5 JR Country Morning host Glen Slingerland during an impromptu visit Thursday morning that city staff have tried to reduce next year’s property tax increase.

“We’ve really carved it down to 4.9 per cent of an increase that we’ll attach this year,” Popove told Slingerland. “Interestingly enough, 2.95 per cent of that is RCMP. That goes to Green Timbers (E Division, 14200 Green Timbers Way in Surrey). That’s all administration. Every municipality is actually facing that. So, our tax increase is actually 1.95 per cent. It’s lower than the cost of living, which is 2.5 or 2.6 per cent.”

The city plans to fund additional police and fire positions in the 2026 financial plan.

“We’re adding a couple RCMP, we’re adding four to the fire department,” Mayor Popove said. “A real push on safety and security, which is always a need with our town at 108,000 people. We’re growing two per cent every year. That’s 2,000 people moving in approximately every year.”

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City of Chilliwack finance director Glen Savard says municipal governments across B.C. and Canada continue to face what he calls “escalating inflationary and nondiscretionary” costs for the provision of many of its core and essential services delivered to their respective communities.

As a result, inflationary and non-discretionary cost increases provide very little budgetary flexibility and must be funded through revenues generated from property taxation to maintain current and regular levels of service.

More specifically, Savard says the delivery of policing services remains a significant cost driver on the 2026 financial plan. Policing services are continually escalating year after year.

The cost increase associated with the contract with the RCMP has had the single biggest hit on the city’s financial plan, requiring a 2.95 per cent tax increase alone to fund this contracted service in the absence of additional resources, Savard said. Altogether, a 4.9 per cent tax increase has been proposed for the 2026 financial plan.

Chilliwack councillors gave first and second reading of the 2026 financial plan this past Tuesday at their meeting. A public information meeting on the city’s 2026 financial plan will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at City Hall, 8550 Young Road.