CKA Forums :: Can you do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?

I simply assumed that the price of a barrel of oil would be $200, and came out wiht a 5 billion surplus. Didn't have to cut anything.

What was in 'other' that you chopped there?

I'd go higher on the resource revenue, and not cut so much from infrastructure too.

I can and did - without a sales tax! I just made a few cuts here and there, then increased income and corporate taxes by 1% and gas taxes by 4 cents/litre.

bootlegga bootlegga:

I can and did - without a sales tax! I just made a few cuts here and there, then increased income and corporate taxes by 1% and gas taxes by 4 cents/litre.

I did it without a sales tax! I just added a tax to the price of a retail good!
I feel like somehow I've failed this world.
You did it without a full sales tax, I will give you that. But in honesty you can admit that you raised a single item sale tax?
~
Oh and Bootlegga, what do you do if the resource revenue drops by 25% after you made your budget and everyone keeps screaming at you for not predicting the drop?

Author:	bootlegga [ Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:02 pm ]
Post subject:	Can you do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
http://www.budgetchoice.ca/2012/ I can and did - without a sales tax! I just made a few cuts here and there, then increased income and corporate taxes by 1% and gas taxes by 4 cents/litre. 0: Budget.jpg [ 195.89 KiB \| Viewed 541 times ]

Author:	DrCaleb [ Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:22 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
What was in 'other' that you chopped there? I'd go higher on the resource revenue, and not cut so much from infrastructure too.

Author:	OnTheIce [ Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:35 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
I came out with a 2.7 billion surplus. Lots of cuts and some tax increases on the corporate side and income taxes. 2% sales tax too.

Author:	CDN_PATRIOT [ Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:36 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
I just went and did that for the hell of it, and ended up with a surplus of 0.4 billion. I made some good cuts, but left important things alone. I rule. -J.

Author:	Zipperfish [ Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:55 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
I simply assumed that the price of a barrel of oil would be $200, and came out wiht a 5 billion surplus. Didn't have to cut anything.

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Author:	Thanos [ Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:35 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
Zipperfish Zipperfish: I simply assumed that the price of a barrel of oil would be $200, and came out wiht a 5 billion surplus. Didn't have to cut anything. You've got the right stuff. Apply for a job with the Redford cabinet right now.

Author:	commanderkai [ Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:36 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
I wish the budget was this easy. Sadly, we all know it's not. Maybe when Parliament is run by computers.

Author:	CanadianJeff [ Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:34 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
This needs an option to start taxing churches. Truth be told I found myself dismissing a LOT of the optional cuts because I feel education and arts are some of the best money well spent. Still all I had to do was cut funding to park maintenance by 10%, make some larger cuts to MLA salaries and services, and make cuts on some documentation organization within government and I was only about 1 billion in debt assuming that the 2012 average on oil would stay the same in 2013 (which is being very pessimistic). Mind you I also raised the large corporate tax rate to 11% which I'm sure some people would scream murder over. A whole 1% increase! You add taxes to churches on that though and I have a feeling I'd be very close to having a good (4 billion) surplus after emergency expenses.

Author:	bootlegga [ Tue Feb 12, 2013 4:26 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
DrCaleb DrCaleb: What was in 'other' that you chopped there? I'd go higher on the resource revenue, and not cut so much from infrastructure too. Being a pessimist/realist, I kept oil prices at the current price, even though I have little doubt it will increase as time goes by. For Infrastructure, I cut spending on property management and Realty Services - likely nothing that should affect it too much. For Other, I cut the Public Affairs Bureau budget and froze salaries of non-union public sector employees (managers basically). 0: Budget2.jpg [ 317.49 KiB \| Viewed 247 times ]

Author:	Public_Domain [ Tue Feb 12, 2013 6:19 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
Went with oil at the price "this week". $2.3 billion deficit,

Author:	BeaverFever [ Tue Feb 12, 2013 6:27 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
$1.5Bn surplus, no cuts. Just did the following using default oil price of $71/barrel: - $.02 per litre fuel tax - Raised corporate and personal income tax by 1% - Raised income taxes for the "1%" from 10% to 14% This alone gets to break even with 2012 average oil prices ($73), with taxes still lower or equal to Rest of Canada - 2% Sales Tax generates surplus If you use the actual 2012 average price for oil, instead of the default price, surplus goes up to $2Bn

Author:	Xort [ Tue Feb 12, 2013 8:49 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
bootlegga bootlegga: I can and did - without a sales tax! I just made a few cuts here and there, then increased income and corporate taxes by 1% and gas taxes by 4 cents/litre. I did it without a sales tax! I just added a tax to the price of a retail good! I feel like somehow I've failed this world. You did it without a full sales tax, I will give you that. But in honesty you can admit that you raised a single item sale tax? ~ Oh and Bootlegga, what do you do if the resource revenue drops by 25% after you made your budget and everyone keeps screaming at you for not predicting the drop?

Author:	bootlegga [ Wed Feb 13, 2013 7:19 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Can do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
Xort Xort: bootlegga bootlegga: I can and did - without a sales tax! I just made a few cuts here and there, then increased income and corporate taxes by 1% and gas taxes by 4 cents/litre. I did it without a sales tax! I just added a tax to the price of a retail good! I feel like somehow I've failed this world. You did it without a full sales tax, I will give you that. But in honesty you can admit that you raised a single item sale tax? ~ Oh and Bootlegga, what do you do if the resource revenue drops by 25% after you made your budget and everyone keeps screaming at you for not predicting the drop? Adding a fuel tax is like a user fee IMO. If you use lots, you pay lots, use little, pay little. Because of this, I think it's better than a sales tax on everything. A sales tax hits everyone - although if a credit is built into it for lower income citizens, then it's very progressive and the wealthy tend to pay more than average people (due to the higher cost of luxury goods). However, sales taxes are verboten in this province, so that's why I didn't use one here - just as Redford's government is unlikely to. Admittedly, my surplus is small and could easily be wiped out by a change in oil prices - but that's why I went with a pessimistic (low) oil price, not an optimistic (high) one. If prices rise as expected, the surplus grows, if not, then we're covered. I'm guessing your last comment is one based on the predicament the current government finds itself in. Some people have speculated that they knew prices would drop and used bogus figures to allow them to pay for campaign promises. Others feel the province is a victim of outside influences. I feel it's a mix of both (they expected a price drop, but not such a large one) and I don't really blame them too much. Of course, I would have preferred they be a little more realistic and not wear rose-coloured glasses when drafting the budget, but that budget was a political one. Everyone wanted big spending promises in the last election, so that's what all the parties (including the Wildrose) gave the electorate.

Author:	DrCaleb [ Wed Feb 13, 2013 9:50 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Can you do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
I could save 100 million just by firing the managers with Alberta Health Services. 100 million in travel . . .to where?

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Author:	jj2424 [ Wed Feb 13, 2013 9:53 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Can you do better than the PCs at balancing the budget?
[quote="bootlegga"]http://www.budgetchoice.ca/2012/ I can and did - without a sales tax! I just made a few cuts here and there, then increased income and corporate taxes by 1% and gas taxes by 4 cents/litre. 0: Budget.jpg [/quote Well you voted for the clowns...I didn't REDford is just waiting to slap us with a sales tax....it's a Liberal thing.