Surplus Actually Higher than $2.7 Billion – Says AG
Prince George, B.C. -The Auditor General, Carol Bellringer, has taken a look at the provincial books and the accounting methods and says the $2.7 billion dollar surplus announced by Finance Minister Carole James, is actually healthier than that.
According to Bellringer, the way the previous Government recorded Federal Transfers means the surplus should be $0.9 billion dollars higher.
Bellringer says the way the Province records revenue that it receives from other levels of government is determined by government regulation and not by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). She says that means, these types of revenues are “typically under-reported,.”
“We urge government to rescind these regulations and apply GAAP without modification,” said Bellringer.
Comments
Shouldn’t take the NDP too long to squander it
Probably by the end of the year.
Those that yapped the Liberals were not paying down the debt, what do you have to say now?
The debt did increase, plus ICBC is at risk of going bankrupt, BC Hydro and BC Ferries are also at risk. The surplus was the result of merged revenue from crown corporations and then the deficits of the crown corporations is reported separately. It is just a shell game.
Debt increased because it is taxpayer supported debt and not just government debt and includes crown corps
The difference between what the government takes in dollar wise and what it spends is surplus or deficit in terms of budget
The surplus is a reflection of what is contained in the annual budget. It’s quite different than what’s going on with long term debt levels.
Think of it this way. If you made 4K a month, spent 3K on stuff (including 1K in rent) and had zero debt, you’d have a surplus of 1K per month. If you got a loan to buy a condo for $150K, your mortgage was only 750 per month, and everything else stayed the same, you’d now have a monthly surplus of $1,250. So more cash flow (bigger surplus), but also increased debt to the tune of $150K.
You have to look at all the financials to get a sense of what’s going on. Snippets here and there just don’t tell the whole story.
yep the NDP will throw that in the toilet. They make this announcement which entitles them to dribble out the money. Instead of building a future for our grandchildren.
The NDP are probably going to build more fast ferries with that surplus. Problem solved!
Explain again why we kicked out the Liberals? Best economic growth, best job growth, lowest taxes and the highest surplus in the country. Is everyone in the Lower Mainland and the Island really just that stupid?
Apparently so!
We actually didn’t kick them out, the NDP and Greens did. We voted for them to form a minority government to keep them in check but Horgan’s ego got the best of him
Lowest taxes? Lmfao! You are living in a dream world.
Teachers, cab and truck drivers, that’s about it. All about tolls and inflated pensions.
Considering that BC is the only Province that pays MSP Premiums, has a Government that creams money off of ICBC and BC Hydro. Its pretty obvious that the surplus is a result slight of hand accounting.
They have a surplus and we have billions in debt.
Hardly a Government that you would want to keep in power. I am sure more will be released on the (shady, shoddy) Liberal Government in the near future.
At least we can sit back and enjoy the silence now that Christy Clark, is not yapping anymore.
Those who lost the election are still crying the blues. Will probably have to order in another truck load of crying towels, to try to stem the flow of crocedile
tears.
Had the Liberals used “Sleight” of hand in their accounting methods, I’m sure Mr. Horgan would have done a bit of chest thumping and grunting by now.
Will be interesting to see what the surplus is in 4 years.
Considering that BC is the only Province that pays MSP Premiums
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I can’t speak for the other provinces and I’m too lazy right now to look it up, but we also pay health care “premiums” here in Ontario. The difference here is that the amount is computed as part of your annual income tax filing and lumped into your provincial taxes payable. It’s income based, so the more you make the more you pay.
So yeah, it’s not technically an insurance premium, but same difference. You’re still paying an extra amount above and beyond your income taxes to fund health care costs.
Palopu…they actually won the election. Most seats, most votes mean you won.
The fact that Beavis and Butthead got together and made a backroom deal to form an alliance that no one voted for and schemed to seize power at the earliest opportunity does in no way shape or form give Hoagy and the NDP any reason to claim an electoral victory.
You can already see the cracks in the Beavis and Butthead alliance forming with Weaver openly contradicting and criticizing NDP initiatives like the minimum wage increase, and plans to attempt to stop Kinder Morgan. How long will it be before the two big egos clash and Hoagy is back on the opposition benches or we are in another election?
12 months at the most and this bromance will be done and run!
The NDP and Greens will not give up this Government easily. The Greens with the NDP at least have some say in Governing this Province. If we had another election is a pretty good bet that the Greens would lose what ever power they now possess.
So not likely that this coalition will break up any time soon.
As for the liberals winning the election, lets just say if you win an election you do not end up being the official opposition. You can crunch the numbers anyway you choose, but you still end up with the Liberals in opposition. The Liberals ended up with a slight majority of seats and the popular vote, however this was as much the result of gerrymandering than it was about voter support.
Well this nimrod hasnt even tested the confidence of the house yet. Making changes spending money etc and they havent even delivered a speech from the throne. Had cc done this there would have been a big hullaballoo.
Guys the biggest power hungry moron to ever have a name on the ballott. Next to the tw@t down south that is
B.C. voters gave the Liberals the most seats and votes. The Lieutenant Governor made the decision to give the casual arrangement of NDP/GREENS the opportunity to form the next government. Had she decided otherwise it would have been more reflective of what the election result was. The next election can not come soon enough in order to prevent a repeat of the dismal decade, from #1 to dead last and have-not status.
If you check out Provincal tax rates by Province on any search engine, It sure does seem to prove that BC does have the lowest personal tax rates….At lease for now. O-250 should start a survey: How big do you think the NDP budget surplus will be after Year 1? Year 2? Year 3?
Thats hilarious. Ok maybe BC had the lowest personal tax rates, but no other province taxed its citizens to death for everything under the sun like the liberals did while in power. BC citizens were taxed for everything. The thieves even went after its citizens retroactively for taxes they weren’t required to pay back to 2010 on out of province purchases. Lowest taxes my butt!
Actually if you you look at Tax Freedom Day which includes all taxes, only Alberta and Saskatchewan pay less taxes than B.C. Alberta is obviously less because of No PST.
Pal:”They have a surplus and we have billions in debt.”
The NDP more than doubled the debt during the dark decade. It left BCRail with a huge pile of debt, making it a prime candidate for a sell-off. I won’t mention that it apparently kept two separate books for accounting.
B.C. does have the lowest personal tax rates, but not for long anymore.
If they cancel Site C the Liberal surplus will be gone just to pay for broken contract law suites and undoing all the work that has already been done!
There may be and Asian flu arriving any day now! Chuckle.
Any govt that doesn’t allow for reversal of contracts with minimal penalty to taxpayers should be lined up before the firing squad.
You forgetting when liberals back in the day cancelled the helicopter contract to the tune of 500 million just to make a an very expensive political childish point.
Bellringer: I love that name for an Auditor General. !!
To all of you that moan about icbc and bchydro and the government looting that occurs…
Bear this into consideration
Would you rather our own government skim off the revenues of our own companies and put the money back into the system kind of for us regardless the shape or form, Or have some jackass with a private jet in new York squander it all on his fancy condos and never reinvest in our province.
Ask the provinces with private insurance and hydro what its like. At least under the current model the money kind of stays in bc and gets reinvested somewhat. (Maybe not he smartest investments)
It’s a huge hidden form of taxation and it should be illegal.
Say good by to any surpluses as well as our Triple A credit rating. Tweedle dee and tweedle Dumb will take care of that.
Just as annoying as on snow and mud.
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