Despite a sharp plunge in oil revenue, the Saskatchewan government has delivered another surplus budget that contains no tax increases and includes record spending on infrastructure.
Finance Minister Ken Krawetz tabled the tight but balanced budget, his last before retiring from politics, in the provincial legislature Wednesday.
"There is no doubt this is a challenging budget," Krawetz said at a news conference before he delivered the budget.
"But the good news is Saskatchewan has never been in a better position to meet this challenge. Our economy is more diversified than ever before."
The Saskatchewan Party government says overall revenue is expected to be up just 1.2 per cent from last year’s projection to $14.28 billion.
Overall spending is also forecast to increase 1.2 per cent to $14.17 billion, leaving a projected surplus of $107 million.
Public debt is projected to be $13.3 billion, up from $11.7 billion, while general revenue fund operating debt is forecast to remain unchanged at $3.8 billion.
Spending on health, education and social services accounts for nearly three-quarters of all expenditures in this year’s budget.
Overall spending in those areas is expected to increase by just under two per cent, while all other areas of the government are expected to trim spending by a combined 0.6 per cent.
Oil revenue is down $661 million from last year's budget. The government is forecasting that oil will average US$53 a barrel in 2015 and $67 a barrel in 2016. The price has hovered around $40 a barrel this week.
"There will be slow growth to something higher," Krawetz predicted.
Changes to tax incentives and certain programs were necessary given the fiscal climate, he said.
A tax incentive for parents who register their children in sports will now only be offered to families earning less than $60,000 a year. A $20,000 tuition refund for graduates who stay in the province is being converted to a non-refundable tax credit.
About 6,000 seniors will be bumped from the rolls of the Seniors Drug Plan as the government shifts the income threshold to $65,500 from $80,000.
"When we look at the expenditures of our government on our people less fortunate ... we were going to continue to do that, but we wanted to make this change to ensure that those programs continue," Krawetz said.
The budget also calls for a change in the Potash Production Tax to help offset the drop in revenue from falling oil prices.
Effective Jan. 1, the rates at which capital expenditures are deductible from annual gross revenues will be reduced, but they will continue to accrue at a rate of 120 per cent.
It’s expected that deferring those deductions will increase the province’s take from potash by $150 million this year.
The change, which was made following consultation with the potash industry, along with anticipated growth in the sector is expected to result in a nearly $400 million increase in potash revenue.
That interim step will be followed by a broader review of the entire potash taxation a royalty regime. The review will look at ways to simplify the tax and royalty system, “balancing incentives for new investment with ensuring that Saskatchewan people benefit appropriately from their resource,” the government said.
Revenue sharing with municipalities is expected to total $265.3 million, an increase of $8.3 million from last year and $138 million compared to 2007.
This year’s budget also sees the beginning of a four-year, $5.8 billion Saskatchewan Builds Capital Plan to construct and maintain infrastructure such as schools, health care facilities, municipal infrastructure, roads, bridges and highways.
As part of the plan, spending on core infrastructure will increase almost 50 per cent to $1.3 billion – the largest such allocation in the province’s history. However, the government will have to borrow an estimated $700 million to fund a portion of the plan this fiscal year.
In addition, Crown corporations – SaskPower, SaskTel and SaskEnergy, in particular – are forecast to spend $2 billion on capital.
The government plans to spend a record $248.5 million on school capital projects, up $150.6 million from last year. Over the next four years, the province intends to invest nearly $900 million to build and renovate schools.
Other capital expenditures in this year’s budget include $581 million for transportation infrastructure and a $256.4 million investment in health facilities.
NDP finance critic Trent Wotherspoon said the budget does little for the average Saskatchewan family.
"This government is planning to spend more than any other year in Saskatchewan's history," he said before the budget was delivered.
"The provincial budget shows that this government can fix seniors care, build a better education system and make life affordable for middle-class, hard-working families, but they aren't going to," Wotherspoon said.
The NDP has long criticized the government for what it has said is a lack of attention to seniors issues. An ombudsman investigation was launched into cases of alleged neglect in November.
The budget allocates $10 million in new investment to seniors care, bringing the total for 2015-16 to $14.5 million.
Wotherspoon said it isn't enough.
"The seniors care crisis is being ignored."
He added that the government should be more conservative with its energy revenue forecasts.
"We're at a six-year low in oil and they've pegged it at US$53 (a barrel), or they suggest that uranium revenues are really going to more than double this year," he said.
"Some of the numbers this government has used in its assumptions certainly aren't cautious."
With files from The Canadian Press