Alberta Budget unveiled
Posted Mar 6, 2014 3:51 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Alberta is back in the black when it comes to day-to-day spending, but the good times are being underwritten with billions of dollars in debt.
Finance Minister Doug Horner says the province is forecasting a consolidated surplus for the first time in six years of $1.1 billion.
But the 2014-15 budget is also projecting $21 billion in debt by 2017, most of it for roads, schools and hospitals for tens of thousands of newcomers arriving each year.
There are no new taxes and no tax increases, and Alberta retains its status as Canada’s only province without a sales tax.
There is money for more Mounties, 50 new schools and 2,000 new spaces for post-secondary education.
There are also plans to complete twinning of the main highway to the oilsands hub of Fort McMurray and to spend $1.1 billion over three years to help southern Alberta recover from flooding.
Highlights from the Budget:
The bottom line: A $1.1-billion surplus on day-to-day operations _ the first surplus in six years _ but government is borrowing $6 billion this year for schools, roads and hospitals. Total forecasted debt of $21 billion by the end of 2017.
Taxpayers: No new taxes or tax increases and no health premiums. Alberta continues to be the only province without a sales tax.
Law and order: Money for 40 new RCMP officers.
Homeless: Cash to house 2,000 more homeless people.
Health: An overall 3.6 per cent increase to the health budget.
Education: An increase of 3.2 per cent in education spending to make room for 18,000 new students. Funding for 50 new schools and renovations to 70 more _ all of those projects have already been announced.
Post-secondary: New money added to that announced last year restores about two-thirds of $147 million cut from post-secondary schools in the last budget. Access fund to make another $50 million available to schools. New money includes funding for 2,000 new full-time post-secondary spaces.
Savings: The government plans to have $26 billion by the end of 2015 in the Heritage Savings Trust Fund, the rainy-day contingency account and new accounts for social innovation, agriculture innovation and future megaprojects.
