Alberta’s United Conservative government delivered the 2023 budget on Feb. 28, the last one before a scheduled May election, and it includes a $2.4 billion surplus by 2024, despite more spending across the board.
The budget is balanced, with debt on the decline, according to Finance Minister Travis Toews. He said Albertans pay $20 billion less in taxes than they would if they lived in the next lowest-taxed province.
The surplus is based on revenues of $70.7 billion and $68.3 billion in spending. It also has a $1.5-billion contingency fund.
Alberta’s taxpayer-supported debt will drop to $78.3 billion by the end of 2023–24, which is $17.3 billion lower than estimated in 2022. Overall spending is going up by 3.9 percent….