B.C.’s budget, and what does it mean for you?

B.C.’s Finance Minister, Michael De Jong, tabled the provincial budget in the legislature on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Once again, the government emphasized this budget is balanced, the fifth consecutive budget to do so.

Should you be concerned with this budget or was it a ho-hum non-event for you?

Well, if you care about your money (and you should!), then you need to know how this budget can affect you and what the government intends to do with your money.

I say your money because that is exactly what the government is planning to spend.

Your hard-earned money. Money sent as taxes. Each fall, the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services travels the province to hear advice about what should be in the B.C. budget. Just so you know, this Standing Committee is made up of both Liberal and NDP MLAs.

What did this committee hear last fall? Not surprisingly, the key themes were health care, advanced education, fiscal policy, social services, K-12 education, the environment, housing, indigenous peoples, sport, culture & arts, natural resources, transportation and transit and public safety.

I would suspect that every individual B.C. taxpayer who creates their own annual budget can relate to this task of weighing limited income with increasing ways to spend these funds.

For 2017, there is a projected surplus. This budget shows revenues totalling $50.8 billion, spending totals over $50.5 billion and a surplus of $295 million.

Just like your household budget, there likely are interest costs included in your spending calculations. If you have a line of credit, vehicle loan or sometimes have credit card interest, then these become an expense for the year that must be factored into your spending.

The government must also factor interest costs into its spending. Interest must be paid on monies borrowed by the government for both operational purposes and capital purchases.

Operational purposes refer to day-to-day operations of the government. Capital purchases refer to infrastructure spending be it roads, schools, hospitals etc. The current budget included infrastructure spending of $13.7 billion over the next three years.

Where is this money to be spent? Transportation takes 32.8 per cent; Post-secondary institutions have 18.9 per cent; Education has 14.6 per cent; Health receives 19.7 per cent and other for the remaining 13.9 per cent.

Of interest to note, for 2016, B.C. exported just under 54 per cent of goods to the U.S. That was followed by 15.5 per cent to China, 9.5 per cent to Japan, 9.7 per cent to other Asian countries with the remaining 11.4 per cent to all other countries. This is in contrast to Alberta and Ontario, which both have exports of over 80 per cent to the US.

Here are the notable highlights in the 2017 budget: • MSP will be phased out. Effective Jan. 1, 2018, MSP premiums will be cut in half. If your family income is $120,000 or less, this will save you up to $900 per year.

• For businesses, PST charged on electricity will be reduced from 7 per cent to 3.5 per cent effective Oct. 1. Effective April 1, 2019, PST will be eliminated on business electricity charges. Residential electricity is already exempt.

• Operating debt is to be reduced to zero by 2020. This is estimated to save $500 million in interest costs.

Of course, this budget is an estimate of the revenues and expenses the government will incur over the next fiscal period ending March 2018. In May, B.C. residents will go to the polls to elect a provincial government. Whether some or all of these budget measures are passed into law is dependent upon the results from the upcoming election. Stay tuned. But at least you know what the government’s plan is for spending your money.