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Budget 2004
Highlights:
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Accumulated debt
will be reduced by another $1 billion to $2.7 billion by the
end of 2005-06.
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This is Alberta’s
eleventh consecutive balanced budget.
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Health and Wellness
program spending will increase by 8.4 per cent to $8 billion
in 2004-05.
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Learning program
spending will increase by 5.7 per cent to $5.3 billion in
2004-05.
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The 2004-07 Capital
Plan will directly support $6.5 billion in capital projects.
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Provincial support
for policing will increase by $58 million or 50 per cent to
$174 million in 2004-05.
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$13 million has
been set aside in 2004-05 to begin shifting governance and funding
responsibility for ground ambulance services from municipalities
to health regions. In 2005-06, funding will increase to $55
million per year.
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Indexing of
Alberta’s 10 per cent single-rate personal income
tax system against inflation will continue in 2004, saving
Albertans about $150 million.
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Effective April
1, 2004 the general corporate income tax rate will be reduced
from 12.5 per cent to 11.5 per cent and the small business rate
will be cut from 4 per cent to 3 per cent, saving Alberta businesses
$142 million in 2004-05.
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School property
tax rates will be cut by about 2.3 per cent, saving Albertans
and Alberta businesses about $20 million.
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Alberta’s
economic growth is expected to increase to 3.6 per cent in
2004.
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42,700 new jobs
are expected in 2004.
| Edmonton
… Alberta heads toward
its next century backed by a strong fiscal framework, a commitment
to fund priority programs and services, and a long-term vision
that builds on Alberta’s strengths and creates new opportunities.
The government’s
2004-07 fiscal plan was unveiled today as Finance Minister
Patricia Nelson tabled Budget 2004 in the legislature.
“It is an
appropriate time to reflect on our accomplishments,”
said Nelson. “Elimination of the debt is within sight.
The government is the only one in Canada whose financial assets
exceed its liabilities. We have the lowest debt servicing
costs relative to spending and the lowest tax burden in Canada.
Albertans have supported us when tough decisions needed to
be made and those decisions have resulted in Alberta having
the strongest fiscal position of any government in Canada.”
“We have a fiscal framework
in place that protects priority programs from swings in energy
revenue. The Sustainability Fund is working. It has paid for
emergencies and disasters and provided Albertans with relief
from high energy prices, all without impacting ongoing programs
and services. That is exactly what the Sustainability Fund
was designed to do.”
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Strategic
Plan
The government’s
twenty-year strategic plan, Today’s Opportunities, Tomorrow’s
Promise, was released as part of Budget 2004 and was designed with
Albertans’ priorities in mind. Alberta’s solid fiscal
position is the foundation from which the government will build
for the future. The strategic plan is built around four pillars.
The pillars are:
- unleashing innovation,
- leading in learning,
- competing in the global
marketplace, and
- making Alberta the
best place to live, work and visit.
See
backgrounders.
Learning
A key component of the strategic plan
is the need for well-educated and skilled citizens. “Alberta’s
students are already recognized as some of the best in the world,
and we want to stay on top,” said Nelson. “Alberta Learning’s
program spending will increase by $284 million, or 5.7 per cent,
to $5.3 billion in 2004-05 to help address government-supported
recommendations from Alberta’s Commission on Learning and
improve post-secondary access.”
Health
Health and Wellness spending will increase
by $618 million or 8.4 per cent in 2004-05 to $8 billion. We are
spending more than double what the government spent on health programs
nine years ago. “Health spending accounts for the largest
share of total government spending,” said Nelson. “In
2004-05, health will account for 38 per cent of the total government
program budget. These increases are simply not sustainable. The
time for meaningful health reform is now.”
Capital Plan
People have been drawn to Alberta’s
prosperous economy, creating pressure on existing infrastructure
and the need for new development. The 2004-07 Capital Plan supports
$6.5 billion in capital spending, an increase of about $900 million
from the 2003-06 Capital Plan. The 2004-07 Capital Plan includes
ongoing capital commitments and new projects. “That amounts
to $3.5 billion in support for school boards, post-secondary institutions,
health authorities, municipalities and other local authorities and
organizations,” said Nelson. “Another $3 billion will
go toward provincially owned infrastructure primarily Alberta’s
roads and highways.”
Strong, Safe Communities
This government is committed to developing
strong, safe communities. To that end, another $58 million will
go towards policing programs to help ease policing costs for Alberta’s
municipalities in 2004-05. This includes $16.5 million that was
reallocated from the Unconditional Municipal Grant program. Municipalities
with populations under 5,000 will no longer pay for policing and
there will be $16 per capita policing grants for all municipalities
that are required to pay.
The government will begin the process
of shifting governance and funding responsibility for ground ambulance
services from municipalities to health regions. In 2004-05, $13
million has been set aside to begin this change. Funding will rise
to $55 million per year in 2005-06.
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Go
to Backgrounders:
Go to Budget 2004 Documents:
Charts
and Graphs
(Click
here for a pdf version.)
Go to Budget
2004 Backgrounders:
Go to Budget 2004 Documents:
For media inquiries, please contact:
(Dial 310-000 for toll free access
outside Edmonton.)
Jerry Bellikka
Director of Communications
Alberta Finance
(780) 427-5364
(780) 718-5699 cellular |
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