5 POSSIBLE IMPACTS

Journal reporter looks at some areas of the budget that might a ect you.

1 Families and the vulnerable

An extra $27 million is in the budget for the Alberta Child Benefit program, taking it to $174 million. The program, now in its second year, is designed to provide grants up to $2,785 each year to struggling Alberta families.

“It is hard times, we all know it,” said Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee. “We know that families are hurting in this province and withdrawing those supports would be the worst things we could do for families who are struggling already.”

2 Taxes

Virtually all taxes, even sin taxes, are staying at the rates projected in 2016-17.

Still, the province projects revenue from tobacco taxes will rise slightly from $1.019 million to $1.026 million. Revenue from liquor sales is projected to go from $864 million in 2016-17 to $876 million in this budget year. Tax rates for small business dropped from three per cent to two per cent as of January 2017, to help o set the carbon tax. Education property tax rates, at a provincial level, will be frozen for 2017-18, though the impact will be di erent city by city.

3 Climate change

The carbon tax is expected to generate $3.9 billion in gross revenue over the next three years. About 39 per cent of that will be returned to Albertans in household rebates and another 15 per cent goes toward small business tax cuts.

The carbon levy rate for diesel will increase from 5.35 cents per litre in 2017 to 8.03 cents per litre in 2018. Gasoline will go from 4.49 cents per litre to 6.73 cents per litre.

4 More employment

The number of fulltime equivalent (FTE) employees working for the province will rise by 2,822 in 2017-18. A majority of those sta will work for Alberta Health Services, cementing it as the province’s largest employer.

The Justice Department will also see a boost, with 495 FTE’s being added. Of those, 40 per cent will be new hires, the department said. The biggest beneficiaries will be corrections, which gets 170 FTE’s.

Crown prosecution services, which includes prosecutors and support services, gets 117 FTE’s. There are also 60 new front line care providers for child intervention.

5 Indigenous Relations

Minister Richard Feehan said the government will ask communities to identify their needs and the best solutions to solve the issues.

About $150 million will filter through to indigenous communities from the carbon tax over the next three years.