Province tables another balanced budget
Posted February 18, 2014 2:19 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – It’s a boring but balanced budget, according to BC’s finance minister, who has unveiled plans for another small surplus.
The budget includes no new money for teachers, some more help for families in need, and another tax hike for smokers.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong says government will end the current fiscal year with a surplus of $175 million, while he forecasts surpluses of $184 million for 2014-2015 and $206 million and $451 million in the following two years, ending in 2017 which is BC’s next election year.
The legal battle with teachers remains a big uncertainty. De Jong warns there are two ways to deal with the possible costs of a court ruling. He says one of those options is to raise taxes. “The other is to go elsewhere in the budget and redeploy. That is never a happy circumstance.”
Elsewhere, smokers will see the price of a carton of cigarettes by $3.20.
Community Living BC is getting $243 million more over three years.
The government has also unveiled plans for a two-tier tax system for LNG. De Jong says the LNG Income Tax, starting at 1.5 per cent and increasing to seven per cent, will be enshrined in legislation expected later this year.
The province predicts a single LNG plant could bring in $1.4 billion over ten years. “None of it is simple but the stakes are high, and we still think we’re well placed to see construction commence in a timely way,” says de Jong.
The fact the government has delivered a balanced budget is earning praise from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
“That is a herculean task in this economic environment, something only two provinces have done, so kudos to them for that. But, it was sure thin after that. No tax relief, another MSP increase, and frankly, nothing else,” says CTF’s Jordan Bateman.
He says the province is relying too heavily on a long-term debt reduction strategy with LNG, rather than trying to pay it down now.
An increase to the tax credit threshold for first time home buyers is getting the thumbs up from a real estate expert.
Cameron Muir with the BC Real Estate Association says the change will impact about 1,700 people this year.
It’ll cost the government about $8 million.
“And those first time buyers, on average, will likely save, they could save as much as $7,500, but on average they’ll save around $4,000 on the purchase of their home,” explains Muir.
He says those buying for the first time in Metro Vancouver will likely feel the benefit more than buyers in other places around the province. “It would help people across the province who are buying homes, obviously buying homes above $425,000, but of course, Vancouver, having the highest home prices in the province, it’ll be probably much more utilized in the Lower Mainland.”
Muir adds going forward he’d like to see the threshold indexed to some kind of inflationary measure.
