As expected, the budget handed down by the provincial government on Tuesday afternoon didn’t pack the sting of last year’s financial plan.
It didn’t include the tax increases or the spending cuts of a year ago. And it won’t create the acrimony of last year’s budget.
It won’t force municipalities to reopen their own budgets to make large spending cuts, or impose unexpected tax increases.
That’s not to say that there won’t be people who are upset. If you were planning to purchase a used vehicle worth more than $5,000, you’ll be pretty choked to lose the provincial sales tax (PST) exemption.
But don’t expect the government to flip-flop on that issue like they did with the cancellation of the PST exemption on insurance premiums.
Sure, there are a couple of aspects of the budget we won’t be happy about. For starters, there was no mention of a new regional nursing home in Estevan. It’s been more than three years since Estevan collected the sufficient funds to proceed with the new nursing home; we’re still waiting for the government to give the project the thumbs up.
There’s also the subject of passing lanes for Highways 39 and 6 between Estevan and Regina. Any lingering hope of having double lanes between the two cities, at least for the time being, was snuffed out by the government’s pledge to proceed with two sets of passing lanes on Highway 6 south of Regina.
We’re not happy about passing lanes. But we’re also concerned about the location. Does this mean the government is going to work its way south with the passing lanes?
If we’re going to be stuck with passing lanes, then hopefully future passing lanes will start at Estevan, and at the junction of Highways 39 and 6, and work their way to the middle.
It’s also frustrating to see sections of highways with less traffic, and less heavy truck traffic, receiving as many passing lanes as Highways 39 and 6.
But there are positives in the budget. It’s good to see the government is continuing to work its way towards having a balanced budget. It’s good to see that the government has fulfilled its commitment to spend another $30 million on kindergarten to Grade 12 education, although more spending is still needed to offset last year’s spending cuts.
It’s also good to see the government has trimmed 1.4 per cent in spending from last year, although some of those spending cuts are based on attrition in the civil service that is not a guarantee.
It’s also good to see spending for families with autism.
This wasn’t a dream budget by any stretch, but it wasn’t a bad news budget, either. It’s a budget that reflects a new reality for Saskatchewan, with spending constraints that weren’t there a few years ago.
