We'll

A2 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 27, 2002 ay another $800 million

Budget boosts taxes, fees

SAYING HE needs the money primarily to pay for health care wages, finance minister Gary Collins in- creased laxes and fees by $800 million in his first full budget released Feb. 19,

He targeted an arbitra- tion award giving doctors a retroactive fee hike of 11 per cent worth more than $200 million a year as one of the reasons to boost the provincial sales tax by half a per cent to 7.5 per cent and to increase the tax on tobacco,

These two measures are expected to raise $400 million a year.

Medical Services Plan

premium hikes of 50 per cent were annouticed car- lier and come to $358 mil- lion a year.

Collins said he had four options to finance the doc- tors’ fee inercase — do. nothing and have it ab- sorbed by an already stret- ched-thin health care sys- tem, borrow more money, push through more Medi- cal Services Plan in- creases or raise taxes.

“Raising taxes is pretty much the last thing this government ever wanted lo

‘do or ever intended to do,”

he said.

The contract settlement imposed on nurses last year will cost approxima-

alorie when wage

tely $164 million this year in- creases take effect April 1.

Budget figures peg the cost of increased health care wages and fees at $769 million this year and that the new lax measures will raise $758 million to help pay for them.

Also going up are school property taxes by an average two per cent and the rural property tax is also rising.

Despite the tax in- creases, the province is estimating it’ll run a defi-

‘cit for the year beginning

April 1 of $4.4 billion. Total expenditures are calculated at $25.5 billion.

MLA Harris uncertain about docs’ fee hike

SKEENA LIBERAL MLA Roger Harris isn’t sure if he’s going to support an 11 per cent retroactive fee hike for ductors.

Admitting that “uncomfortable” with the prospect of that hike, and a potential additional nine per cent as of April 1, Har- ris said doctors must re- ceive a competitive sal- ary, as is the case with other health care profes- sionals.

“But that doesn’t mean they have to be the highest paid,” added Harris of in- lerim arbitration award of 11 per cent, which mir- rored a deal taken by Al- berta doctors last year, It’s retroactive to last April 1.

The award came out of binding arbitration be- tween the province and the B.C. Medical Association which represents doctors in bargaining and other mat- ters.

But it still must be offi- cially approved by the pro- vince.

That. discussion will take place in the Liberal caucus, in cabinet and in Treasury Board, the pow- erful arm of the gavern- ment which approves ex- penditures. Harris is a member of the Treasury Board.

Government estimates place the cost of the 11

per cent retroactive fee in- ©

crease, and a provision for doctors to be paid for being on-call, at more than $200 million a year.

It could, depending upon a physician’s bil- lings, mean an increase in the range of $25,000 a year.

Physicians say that kind of money is needed to counter a growing doctor shortage in the province as doctors must not only be found, they must be kept in B.C. and not Jured away.

“] don’t believe he took in the province’s capacity to pay,” said Harris of the interim award given by re- tired Chief Justice Alan McEachern.

Yet Harris did note that nurses are entering the second year of a three-year contract providing a 23 per cent increase and that other health care profes- sionals and support work- ers are also receiving sub- stantial pay hikes.

The MLA also cau- tioned against comparing the doctors’ fee increase to new powers being given to the new large health au- thorities.

Critics say those powers allowing health care au- thorities to sidestep current labour agreements could lead to the contracting out of health care support ser- vices such as housekeep- ing and food and will re- sult in lower wages.

“I think flexibility is a code word for efficiency,” said Harris.

“Health care is about the best value for money for patient care.”

“I think people need to give these models a chance to work,” Harris added of changes being planned by health care av- thoritics,

In the meantime, fi-

he’s -

nance minister Gary Col- lins says he’s leaning to- ward approving the retro- active award given doc- tors.

“My assessment as Minister of Finance is that likely the government will pay the retroactive portion and not pay the nine per cent as of April 1,” he said last week.

Collins also noted the province still faces other monetary issues concern- ing doctors, including top ups and annual bonuses for doctors working in rural and isolated locations.

Arbitrator McEachern has given doctors and the province until mid-May to

work out those other is-

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The effect of the new taxes and fees is to further erode the tax breaks, parti- cularly: for low income earners, given by the gov- ernment last summer.

Collins did say the pro- vincial sales tax credit of $50 is being increased to $75 for low income earners to buffer the boost to 7.5 per cent.

He also announced the threshold for the small bu- siness tax rate will in- crease from $200,000 to $300,000.

People living outside .

the lower mainland are Spated one of the increases announced — a hike in the pas prices to pay for lower mainland transit.

Although the province has yet to decide if it'll honour all or a portion of the fee increase given to doctors, Collins said he had to raise taxes ta pro- vide the money for what- ever decision the govern- ment will take.

He noted there are still a series of unresolved monetary issues facing the province and the doctors.

Collins did spend a lot of time talking about the three-year plan the govern- ment has brought in to pre- sent a balanced budget by

2004.

Yet critics noted that the tax increases in this year’s budget will cost people more money.

“British Columbians earning under $60,000 got less than half of the tax breaks last year, but are paying nearly all of the tax increases this year,” said B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair.

The only ministry to ex- perience an increase was health services, again to reflect wage increases.

Its budgel is now $10.2 billion, fully $1 billion more than the last budget of the NDP government.

That’s a staggering amount of money to Skee- na B.C. Liberal MLA Roger Harris.

“That’s just to manage cost pressures; that’s all it does,” he said.

“It does not add a sin- gle additional procedure - not anything for patient care. All it does is protect the core.”

That is more than en- ough reason for health care authorities to work quickly to find more efficient and effective ways of spending money if there is to be any improvement to health care, said Harris.

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