The Government of Saskatchewan released a deficit of $685 million projected for 2017-18, bringing the total provincial deficit to around $1.3 billion.

"We as a government decided that returning to balance in one year would have been too drastic a shock to the economy and to the delivery of government programs and services," finance minister Kevin Doherty said.

Declining resource revenues and depleting reserves are just a few of the issues Doherty addressed in regards to the large deficit. Since 2014-15, resource revenue has declined over $1.3 billion while tax revenue is down by hundreds of millions of dollars due to the resource sector slowdown.

Personal and corporate income tax rates have been lowered in the 2017-18 budget to help mitigate the pressure of an increase in PST.

According to the provincial government, total revenue is forecast at $14.17 billion (up $141 million from the 2016-17 budget) while total expense is forecast at $14.8 billion (up $342 million from the 2016-17 budget).

Revenue measures are being put in place this fiscal year to meet the current financial challenges the province faces. Some of these include an increase in PST tax from five per cent to six per cent (effective at midnight on Mar. 22) which will bring in an estimated $242.1 million in revenue in 2017-18. As well, the province will eliminate of a number of PST exemptions.

PST will now be applied to children's clothing, insurance premiums, restaurant meals and snack foods, construction services and permanently mounted equipment used in the resource sector. PST exemptions for basic needs will be maintained, such as basic groceries, heating fuel, residential electricity, prescription drugs and reading materials.
 
Following are estimates for PST expansion revenue increases, most of which are effective April 1:
  • Children's clothing ($15.6 M)
  • Insurance premiums (effective July 1, $157.9 M)
  • Restaurant meals and snack foods ($94.5 M)
  • Value of trade-in allowance on purchase of new vehicle no longer deductible ($17.8 M)
  • Construction services for repairs, renovations or improvement of real property ($344.6 M)
  • Permanently mounted equipment in oil and gas sector (incremental PST, $16.7 M)

Doherty said the province's focus is to return to a balanced budget over the course of four years. A smaller deficit of $304 is projected for 2018-19 while returning to a balance in 2019-20 with a $15 million surplus forecast and a $183 million surplus in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Controlling government spending is another key focus for the province which will have a total savings of $250 million by reducing public sector compensation, a 3.5 per cent wage rollback for Ministers and MLAs, the consolidation of 12 regional health authorities into one and the winding down of Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC) and Executive Air Service.

Municipal Revenue Sharing is $280 million, and maintains the formula based on one point of the PST. Weyburn will see a reduction in revenue sharing; $2.05 million will be shared with the Opportunity City in 2017-18, down from $2.29 million in 2016-17.

There is an overall decrease of 6.7 per cent in funding in the 2017-18 budget provided for the Ministry of Education and a $22 million decrease in operating budgets for Saskatchewan's 28 school boards.

However, Weyburn will get a share of $2.1 million for the planning of a new school project at the former Weyburn Junior High School building. Rosthern will see the other shares of the $2.1 million for a new school project in its community.

One major item that was missing and will likely be celebrated, was any suggestion of amalgamating school divisions.  While the health region amalgamation is expected to save between $10-$20 million a year starting in 2018, Minister Doherty said as soon as the idea of school division amalgamations started, they received major push back from the communities and decided against the move.

Health care spending is up ever so slightly while education is taking a 1.2 per cent cut.

Liquor and tobacco rates are also going up, fees for hunting and fishing along with many other provincial services across the board.

Read more on Budget 2017:

Provincial budget impacting Weyburn, other municipalities
STC bus services cut across province
NDP say budget misses the mark
Money Out, Money In - How the 2017 budget affects your pocketbook

Discover Weyburn will continue to update this story.