A day after Mayor Doug McCallum claimed the City of Surrey had accumulated a $514-million debt, the figure is being disputed.
According to the city's 2017 budget, Surrey's debt is $267 million – or roughly half the figure McCallum claimed.
In a previous release, the mayor said he was "deeply dismayed and shaken to the core" about the city's debt.
"The fact that the debt load is at $514 million is simply untenable and frankly, irresponsible," he said in the statement.
When asked about the discrepancy, the mayor's office admitted the $514 million figure is a projected figure.
"The $514 million figure is the projected debt that the City would incur under the current 2018-2022 Five Year Financial Plan, approved in Dec. 2017, if it was allowed to proceed to completion," the mayor's office said in a statement Wednesday.
Surrey city staff is currently preparing a budget that will be posted online on Dec. 3 and presented at the finance committee meeting on Dec. 11.
McCallum has declined to comment on the discrepancy.
