Brad Wall. Photo courtesy of Facebook.
Premier Brad Wall took to social media this morning to give Saskatchewan residents a heads up about what to expect in Wednesday’s budget.
On his Facebook page, the premier says tax hikes will be in the budget. He says the loss of oil revenue will mean a move towards other taxes to make up the shortfall. He says there will be a shift to consumption taxes, in other words, the sales tax, which is currently 5 per cent.
“There will be a shift away from reliance on resource revenues,” Wall said. “But, there will be another shift as well, a shift towards consumption taxes, but away from taxes on productivity and income.”
He added Saskatchewan will not return to a balanced budget until 2019.
The message, follows the premier’s announcement earlier this month that public servants will see salaries cut by 3.5 per cent by taking additional days off without pay or by reducing wages.
The budget will be delivered on Wednesday afternoon by finance minister Kevin Doherty.