How do you spell relief?
Saskatchewan taxpayers might spell it t-a-x c-u-t after finance minister Janice MacKinnon announced the provincial sales tax would drop from nine to seven percent.
In her budget speech last week she said the cut, which is worth $180 million a year, rewards people for making a lot of sacrifices over the past five years.
“This is the tax cut Saskatchewan people have worked so hard for,” MacKinnon said. She told reporters the tax cut was sustainable and “forever.”
The NDP’s fourth consecutive balanced budget calls for a $24 million surplus and increased spending on health, education and highways. Less money will be spent on agriculture and grants to urban and rural municipalities.
MacKinnon said the tax cut, along with program spending, will stimulate job growth.
Liberal finance critic Rod Gantefoer said even with the cut Saskatchewan residents will pay $790 million more in taxes this year than they did when the NDP first took office in 1991.
Tory leader Bill Boyd said it was a major victory for everyone who signed petitions calling for a sales tax reduction.
