With many government programs and jobs now under the finance minister's axe, Tantramar MLA Mike Olscamp said most New Brunswickers aren't jumping for joy over the Liberals' provincial budget released last week, despite long-awaited income tax cuts and a cap for student debt.
Olscamp said any good news announced in this year's budget was overshadowed by the bad news brought on by a faltering economy and reckless spending by the government.
Every government department has been asked to make concessions to their budget and many programs have been slated for reductions or even closure.
"I'm not sure yet where all the cuts will be," said Olscamp. "As they say, the devil's in the details."
The Department of Transportation will be cutting river ferry services in Gagetown, Hampstead and Belleisle. As well, it will cut the number of maintenance shops around the province and convert some of them to only winter maintenance divisions.
Although Olscamp doesn't expect Sackville and Port Elgin's DOT garages to close, he said Cap-Pele's shop will be reduced to winter hours.
The department will also limit maintenance services of "already-neglected secondary roads," said the Tory MLA.
The Education Department will reduce funds for the student laptop program, school busing, support to school libraries and school intervention services, as well as the beginner teacher induction program.
The Department of Justice will be eliminating the court social worker program and closing down the small claims court division.
The provincial government is also ending free rides in ambulances, introducing a new $130.60 fee.
Nursing home fees will also increase for seniors who are able to afford the additional costs.
And farmers will no longer have access to a manure stewardship program.
"These are all things that hit home for us here," said Olscamp.
University students will get much-needed tuition relief in the form of a student debt cap program, as well as a tuition freeze for this coming fall. Olscamp said on the other hand, however, students may have more trouble finding summer jobs to fund their education thanks to more cuts to the SEED (Student Employment Experience Development) program.
"We're giving them a break on one end but taking away their ability to earn money in the summertime."
Government also plans to cut 700 civil service jobs and enforce a two-year wage freeze - by legislating job contracts if necessary.
Olscamp said he believes the government should be keeping more people working during an economic recession, not laying them off.
"I'm not convinced that, just because you're in a fiscal crisis, the best thing to be doing is cutting jobs," he said, noting that the civil service could have been reduced slowly through attrition.
Municipalities are also being asked to tighten their belts, although that may not come easy for those who are facing grant cuts to their planning commission budgets as well as a loss in revenue from property taxes.
In this latest budget, the provincial government is changing the way municipalities can access property taxes in the future. This means if a local government wants to collect more money from a booming real estate market, it will be forced to raise its tax rate through a public vote.
Olscamp said he is leery of the proposed changes and said this is simply the province's way of downloading the blame for high property tax bills onto the municipality.
"No one will be getting any breaks on their property tax through this new system," he said.
Although the details have yet to be revealed, Sackville Mayor Pat Estabrooks said this could mean drastic changes to the way the municipality operates.
"We really haven't had time to see how much this change will affect us but it looks to me like we're not going to be able to access the usual increase for assessments . . . so it will mean reduced monies coming in unless we look at increasing the tax rate," she said.
Municipal budgets are based on revenues collected through taxes and the unconditional grant received by the province every year
The mayor said she's not in favour of raising the tax rate but another option the town could consider to make up for the shortfall would be a reduction of services and programs.
"It's a very difficult position to be in . . . and we'll have to take a look at it and then decide what we'll have to do."
Good news in the budget came in the form of the largest income tax reduction package ever introduced in New Brunswick.
Under the plan, for example, a person making $40,000 will pay $225 less in taxes in 2009 from last year, a seven per cent reduction.
Olscamp said tax cuts are certainly needed during tough economic times and the hope is that New Brunswickers will spend that money and "help prime the pump."
But he said what the Liberals failed to mention is this latest tax cut is simply bringing the income tax level back to where it was before Shawn Graham's government raised them after being elected in 2006.
"This move is just bringing us back to square one."
Olscamp also pointed out that the projected deficit released in last week's budget also worries him.
"As a fiscal conservative, I worry about that. I wonder what we are going to be facing in three or four years."
The province is forecasting a $740.9-million deficit for 2009-10, resulting in a projected net debt increase of $968.7 million.
Olscamp said the auditor general predicted last week that, if things continue as they are, New Brunswick's debt (which currently sits at just over $7 billion) could rise to $10 billion by 2010. The government is presently spending about $1.5 million every day just to service the province's debt load.
"I have serious concerns about that potential level of debt . . . we will be leaving our children and grandchildren a legacy of debt. That frightens me."
In his budget speech last Tuesday, Minister of Finance Victor Boudreau said the budget builds on the government's plans to respond to the prevailing economic and fiscal climate facing the province and to position the economy for recovery and growth.
"It continues the process of transformational change in the province through a balanced approach of strategic investments in infrastructure and essential public services, the largest one-time tax reduction package ever introduced in New Brunswick, and more efficient public services," said Boudreau. "And it provides strong, focused and determined leadership in the face of a sustained global economic and financial crisis."
Olscamp said he sympathizes with the Liberals' attempts to put out a budget during a recession but also insisted that the government needs to be more fiscally responsible - and not spend taxpayers' money to bail out financial institutions, fund golf courses, or purchase airplanes.
"It's a tough job right now to be in government," he said. "Yes, you need to spend more but you need to spend more wisely."
