2009-10 Budget Highlight Card (English)

2009-10 Budget Highlight Card (French)

• $103 million in Education Property Tax savings for Saskatchewan property owners in 2009, a 14% reduction
• $53 million in further Education Property Tax savings next year
• Province will cut and cap education property tax rates (mill rates) by setting province-wide tax rates for each of the three major property classes - residential, agricultural and commercial
• Government will increase its share of funding to school divisions by $241 million this year, to a record $990.5 million
• Province will now fund about 63% of the operating costs for Pre-Kindergarten to Grad 12 education, up from last year's provincial funding of 51%; increasing to 66% next year

Education Property Tax inquiries: 1-866-984-8577

• Balanced budget in a time of global uncertainty
• $424.5 million surplus forecasted
• $1.14 billion forecasted Growth and Financial Security Fund balance as a cash reserve

A Better Life for Our Children

• $200 million over two years for a new Children's Hospital in Saskatoon
• $57.8 million for early learning and child care (ELCC), an increase of $12.6 million, for 1,000 new spaces, child care worker training, funding lifts for ELCC service providers and capital for new space development and maintenance
• $3.6 million for enhanced school Internet connectivity and distance education delivery by school divisions.
• $24.9 million for the first installment of a multi-year strategy to make improvements in the child welfare system
• $18 million for the Active Families Benefit

Stronger, Safer Communities

• $167.4 million in operating grants for municipalities, an increase of $32.3 million or 24% - step one of a two-year plan to base municipal operating grants on the vaule of one point of the Provincial Sales Tax; this is in addition to the $100 million infrastructure "booster shot" for municipalities announced in February
• $1.6 million to hire 30 additional police officers - consistent with the election commitment for 120 new officers over four years
• Community Based Organizations will see an increase of $27.2 million to provide a further 3% basic grant increase over and above the additional funding announced in both last year's budget and in September 2008; this funding is primarily intended to address recruitment and retention issues
• $12.3 million in library funding, including $10.0 million for grants to public libraries to enhance Internet connectivity and integrate library information systems
• $35.9 million to continue addressing waitlists in the Community Living Division; the waiting list will be significantly reduced within four years

Investing in Education and Skills Training

• $23.5 million to enable universities to limit tuition increases to an average of 3%
• $23 million to attract and retain nurses and other hard-to-recruit health professionals in Saskatchewan
• $7.9 million to continue the training seat expansions announced last year for nurses, physicians, and medical diagnostics
• $3.9 million to maintain the mid-year increase of 1,100 apprenticeship training seats and additional Apprenticeship Training Allowance support
• $6.5 million for the second year of the Graduate Retention Program, for a total investment of $18.5 million in 2009-10.
• $5.9 million for an Aboriginal Workforce Development Fund to support new employment initiatives aimed at increasing First Nations and Métis workforce participation
• $2.2 million for enhancements to the student loan program, including increased loan limits and further grants for low and middle-income students

Keeping Our Economy Strong

• $1 billion capital program, for schools, hospitals, roads and other infrastructure ($2.5 billion capital commitment over the last two years)
• $358.2 million for road and highway work province-wide, an increase of $86.7 million from 2008-09
• $6 million to convert the current 15% non-refundable Saskatchewan Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit to be fully refundable for eligible R&D investments ($18 million in total funding)
• $108.1 million in additional funding for farm income stabilization programs, which includes an additional $102.1 million for AgriStability and $6.0 million for AgriInvest
• $25.2 million in additional funding for Crop Insurance, including $20.0 million in enhacements as a result of implementing the 2008 Program Review recommendations
• $5.3 million for the Enterprise Regions Program and $300,000 to implement Northern Enterprise Regions - targeting regional economic development
• $5.1 million for the Western Economic Partnership Agreements designed to encourage economic growth in Saskatchewan

Keeping Life Affordable

• $16.5 million for annualized enhancements to the Seniors Income Plan which increased support for low-income seniors by raising the maximum monthly benefit from $90 to $190 for single seniors and from $72.50 to $155 for each member of a two pensioner household
• $12.5 million to adjust shelter rates in the income assistance programs in response to the Task Force on Housing Affordability and index shelter allowances and supplements to 70% of average market rate