Budget Tries to Build on Olympic Jump Start

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C.-  Revenues for the provinice are down $3 billion  dollars from  pre-recession  times, and with that  in mind, Finance Minister Colin Hansen has delivered a budget that  focuses on health care,  and  reining in spending.

"We are enhancing support for B.C.'s families, meeting our financial targets, maintaining our commitments to health and education, and we are on track to return to balanced budgets in 2013," said Hansen. "Recognizing
the many opportunities resulting from the global exposure provided by the Olympic Games, we are also furthering our investments in areas such as clean energy, arts and culture and international commerce while ensuring
future job growth across B.C."

Budget 2010 commits every dollar raised through the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) and four other revenue streams to be used for health services funding when the HST comes into effect July 1, 2010.

Hansen also announced there will be an HST tax credit for low income British Columbians.

• per-pupil funding for students in the K-12 levels will rise from $8,200 in 2009-10 to an estimated $8,301 for 2010-11
  Annual facility grants return
  Full funding of  teacher salary increases
  All day kindergarten will be  funded to $129 million by 2012.

$5.3 billion has been committed to over 850 accelerated capital projects across British Columbia, an increase of $1.9 billion since the September Update 2009.

As mentioned in the speech from the throne,  the budget also provides a new property tax deferral program for homeowners with children under the age of 18. Eligible homeowners will have the option of deferring their provincial and local property taxes in
recognition of the high cost of raising a family. This program will come into effect in the next few months.

An additional $26 million in funding over three years has been set aside to support child-care programs that assist low and moderate income families with the cost of child care through direct assistance to families for child care and funding to child-care operators.

A new tax credit has also been introduced for digital media and enhancements to provincial film-tax credits have been made to reflect the convergence of these sectors and their importance to the B.C. economy.

 $100 million is committed to climate action and clean-energy development, initiatives that will support new jobs and investments in B.C. communities, while lowering greenhouse gas emissions. An additional $35 million will be invested in the successful LiveSmart BC program for household-energy audits and energy-efficiency retrofits.

The budget also provides $60 million over the next three years as a legacy for sports and the arts. Of the $60 million, half will be used to enhance opportunities among British Columbians in the arts, such as visual art, music, theatre and dance. The other $30 million will facilitate increased participation in youth sport, including improved athlete and coach development.

For forestry,  Hansen says  continued growth is expected in that industry, and the Province will continue to work with  the sector to develop new  value added products.

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