The provincial government has put forth its yearly budget, which will see Albertans making less than $60,000 save money on income tax, but also features a rise in property tax values for homeowners.
Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken weighed in on what the budget means for his constituents, starting with the government's long awaited promise to lower personal income taxes.
“It’s something that we made a commitment to in our election platform, and I’ve been very much pushing to recognize,” he said.
“Last year’s budget had planned to move ahead with a nine per cent cut next year and an eight per cent the following year. I wasn’t happy about that.”
The cut introduces a new tax bracket of eight per cent on the first $60,000 of income, which will save Albertans about $750 each year.
Outside of the tax cut, which impacts Albertans across the board, there isn’t much in Budget 2025 that will specifically impact locals. van Dijken said work is continuing on the Highway 813 bridge across Athabasca, which is expected to conclude next year and cost $70 million.
Additionally, funds have been put aside to work on the Highway 33 bridge near Fort Assiniboine, which has been an advocacy point for Woodlands County.
“That was in the planning stage and now it’s in the design stage, so it’s coming along nicely. It should be easier to get through.”
All of these projects cost money, and in a year where the government is planning on running a potential $5.2 billion dollar deficit, extra funds have to come from somewhere. Alberta is increasing its educational tax requisition, which is paid by property owners across the province, to help cover some of shortfall.
While van Dijken said he isn’t sure how much the increase will cost constituents, he said the money is going towards beneficial projects for the area, including new schools in Waskatenau and Mallaig, and a modernization of Barrhead Composite High School.
“The last couple of years has put a strain on our education system, and there was a lot of discussion over how we face and overcome the record enrolment growth,” said van Dijken.
“There’s been significant money allocated for school building, but also for hiring another 4,000 educational staff.”
The last funding increase for local communities will come from the grants in place of property taxes, the means the government uses to compensate municipalities for provincially owned buildings like courthouses.
That grant will go up by 50 per cent in 2025, and again in 2026, bringing it back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic numbers. Local communities are still waiting to see how much it will impact them, but the Town of Athabasca — a community with a higher-than-average percentage of impacted buildings — is expecting to get an extra $25,000 each year.
The deficit has been another key talking point since the budget was unveiled in the last week of February. Some $5.2 billion is planned for in surplus spending, but van Dijken said he doesn’t expect it all to be used.
“So, I believe in balanced budgets. What we have within this deficit is a four billion dollar contingency fund that hopefully we won’t have to use,” he said.
“We’re hoping for the best and planning for the worst, and this fund puts us in place to protect us from some of the unknowns that are coming, with floods, fires, drought, and also with the tariff concerns.”
The $4 billion fund and the $1.2 billion cost the tax break represents for the province represent the entirety of the deficit, but van Dijken expects the final bill to be well under, even with the extra costs for healthcare and education from a growing population.
“The government will do the best of their ability to maintain the spending, but some of these unforeseen events will need to be recognized that possibly they come with some extra cost,” he said.
