2 Living within our means
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Families know that when finances get tight, it gets tougher to pay the bills. The last thing they want to do is rack up new debt on the credit card for luxury items that they really can’t afford. They have to carefully manage their budgets and only pay for what they need, so that they can continue to make ends meet today and in the future.
It’s no different for government. After all, there is no such thing as “government money.” There is only your tax dollars. As hard as it is sometimes to curb spending, we have to live within our means, so that we can continue to pay for important public services without having to raise taxes or leave a burden of debt to our children.
Responsibly managing your tax dollars
British Columbians have worked too hard to get their government’s fiscal house in order to see that squandered by reckless spending and runaway deficits. We’ve laid out a
detailed budget
to carefully control spending. While investing more on core services, it reduces spending on less critical priorities.
Our budget calls for overall average annual spending growth of 2.2 per cent over the next three years*.
With our economy predicted to contract by about 0.9 per cent this year, and little or no inflation, that’s still a sizeable increase. We think it pushes the limit of affordability for taxpayers and small businesses throughout the province. This is a volatile time for global markets that has been far more severe than any of the experts projected. We have to be conservative in our forecasts, in case revenues fall more quickly, or for a longer period, than anticipated.
It’s a complex job putting together a three-year budget that balances $41 billion worth of revenue and expenditures, backed up by a detailed business plan for every ministry. But our record shows that we have the competent team and credible plan to get it right. That’s why BC has the best credit rating in the country.
* [excluding spending related to the new provincial administration of the Labour Market Development program that was previously administered by the federal government.]
