Record fiscal blueprint eschews tax increases
There won't be any tax increases for the coming 2013/2014 fiscal year, according to the territorial budget tabled this afternoon in the Yukon legislature.
There won't be any tax increases for the coming 2013/2014 fiscal year, according to the territorial budget tabled this afternoon in the Yukon legislature.
The record $1.23-billion budget is the fifth to exceed $1 billion in the Yukon's history.
The Department of Health and Social Services will see the largest funding allotment, at $337.6 million, as well as the most significant budget increase compared to the 2012/2013 budget, rising from $293.6 million.
The government has set aside $27 million through the department's operation and maintenance budget to pay down Yukon Hospital Corp. loans taken to fund capital projects, including the two new hospitals in Watson Lake and Dawson City, and the Crocus Ridge medical practitioners' residence in Whitehorse.
That $27 million accounts for the majority of the department's increase.
Operational funding for the hospital corporation jumped by just over $10 million, about $5 million of which will go toward running the new hospitals.
The Department of Education accounts for the second highest operation and maintenance budget with an estimated $146.7 million for 2013/2014, compared to $142 million for the previous fiscal year.
The newly-minted collective agreement with the Yukon Teachers' Association accounts for most of the increase.
While the Department of Community Services will see an overall drop in funding, comprehensive municipal grants are set to increase by close to $1.74 million, an increase of about six per cent. Moving forward, the grants will be indexed.
The annual federal transfer payments to the territory rose to $861 million from $809 million in the current fiscal year, which will end March 31.
The territorial formula financing grant climbed to $816.6 million from $767 million, while the health transfer is set to rise to $31 million from $29.6 million, and the social transfer to $12.6 million from $11.9 million.
The territory's own-source revenue is estimated to rise from $146 million this fiscal year to $152 million in the coming fiscal year.
That reflects growth in the economy, including an increase in personal income tax revenues to the tune of $4 million.
The estimated surplus from 2012/2013 is $81 million, dropping to $72.8 million for 2013/2014.
It will continue to shrink as the federal transfer growth rate drops in the coming years.
See related story below; more budget coverage, with opposition's reaction, in Friday's edition.
Comments (4)
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blackpowder on Mar 22, 2013 at 5:53 am
Good point Bobby.
the 338m that HSS is getting (the 10,000 per person) in funds, does NOT include the Paramedic service, which also includes the Air Ambulance program, with each flight to Vancouver General running an estimated 22k, thats a big addition to the per person spending on health. Ambulance (ground and air) comes out the community services dept. budget, cut again I see this year...
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Brice Carruthers on Mar 22, 2013 at 5:19 am
Just give us all a million dollars to move south, throw up some electrified barbed wire fencing around the territory, and make the whole thing a park. It would probably be cheaper to the feds in the long run.
Just kidding guys! I love the Yukon, so keep the gravy train coming!
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bobby bitman on Mar 22, 2013 at 3:15 am
$338 million for health and social services. That is over $10,000 per person in the Yukon.
I wonder how this compares with other jurisdictions?
I wonder what the breakdown is in terms of how much is going to SA payments for those who do not work for one reason or another, how much goes to taking care of kids who's families are too dysfunctional to care for them, how much goes to the medical system to treat people for different ailments, many of which are fully preventable through lifestyle and nutrition improvements.
Get to the root of the expenses. Perhaps if $1,000 per person of that $10,000 in the Yukon were re-routed to preventing medical issues, family breakdown, and non-participation in the workforce (all of which probably have an influence on each other anyway) we could have a higher 'happiness index' in the Yukon as well as lower health and social services budgets. The status quo is expensive, getting more expensive each year, and is outdated in my opinion.
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Blackpowder on Mar 21, 2013 at 9:05 am
1.230B budget....and we provide 146m to support ourselves....and our Premier says that he does not care about what the "rest of Canada" thinks...
They just gave us , again, over a Billion bucks....for 34,000 residents....Hope none of us are slagging Quebec for its transfer payments!
It certainly flys in the face if all of being hardy independent frontier types