Premier Sandy Silver delivered a territorial budget today worth $1.62 billion, a record-breaking sum for the second fiscal year in a row.

This year’s budget is an increase of $120 million from last year’s budget of $1.5 billion.

“This budget is not about flash, it is about substance,” Silver told the legislature in his budget address this afternoon.

“It continues our work to serve all Yukoners and build the foundation for an even stronger future for the people of this territory.”

The budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year was tabled at the first sitting of the spring session.

It calls for a budget surplus of $4.1 million, an improvement from last year’s deficit of nearly $19 million. This will be the first fiscal year the territorial government records a surplus since 2018.

The surplus is, in part, due to a 6.7 per cent increase in revenue balanced by a six per cent increase in expenses.

The Yukon government is expecting more funds collected via personal income taxes and transfer payments.

The rise in personal income tax revenue, a forecast $5.4 million, is due to higher population and across-the-board income growth, not rising rates.

Other revenue generated by the Yukon –– through tobacco taxes, liquor sales, vehicle registrations, etc. – will garner $194 million.

Eighty-five per cent of the budget will be provided to the Yukon in the form of $1.3 billion in transfer payments from the federal government.

This is a five per cent increase of almost $69 million in federal funding compared to the previous year.

The small business tax will drop from two to zero per cent, effective Jan. 1, 2021, for businesses earning less than $500,000 per year.

The government expects this change to save the Yukon’s 2,000 small businesses approximately $2 million per year.

The Yukon’s Insurance Premium Tax Act, the premium charged on all insurance sold in the Yukon, will be raised for the first time since the 1970s. It will rise from two or three per cent to a single rate of four per cent, in line with rates elsewhere in Canada.

This year’s capital budget plans for more than $40 million in housing investments, including $27 million toward development in the Whistle Bend subdivision.

There will also be $130 million in tenders issued for construction projects.

There will be $218 million put toward education, including $11.6 million for the French first language secondary school in Riverdale and $1.6 million for the new Whistle Bend elementary school. Yukon University will receive $400,000 to support its transition from a college this spring.

There will be $65.2 million put toward social supports, mental wellness and substance use programs. The Yukon’s new integrated health information system, which will streamline the territory’s database, will cost $5.5 million.

The Yukon government has made a four-year commitment of $120 million toward improving energy efficiency, starting with $21 million this coming year.

The funding will go toward reducing reliance on fossil fuels, energy retrofitting and other renewable energy projects.

Funding will also be increased to $21.6 million for fire management, which includes fire-suppression and Fire Smarting.

Improvements to the Alaska Highway, Yukon airports and highway bridges have been allocated approximately $37 million.

The operations and maintenance budget for the upcoming 2020-21 fiscal year beginning April 1 is estimated at $1.25 billion, representing a $38.6 million or three per cent increase in the estimate for this fiscal year.

The five departments with the largest O & M budgets are:

• As is standard, the Department of Health and Social Services accounts for the lion’s share of O & M funding.

Departmental spending for the 2020-21 fiscal year is estimated at $449 million, accounting for 36 per cent of the entire O & M budget. The estimate represents an increase of $19.3 million or 4.5 per cent from the estimate for the current fiscal year.

• O & M funding for the Department of Education for 2020-21 is estimated at $193 million, up $7.6 million or four per cent from the estimate for the current fiscal year.

• O & M funding for the Department of Highways and Public Works for 2020-21 is set at $144.6 million, up $2.9 million or two per cent from the estimate for the current fiscal year.

• O & M funding for the Department of Justice for 2020-21 is estimated at $144.6 million, up $2.9 million or two per cent from the estimate for the current fiscal year.

• O & M funding for the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources for 2020-21 is estimated at $63.4 million, down $3 million or 4.5 per cent from the estimate for the current fiscal year.

The capital budget for the upcoming 2020-21 fiscal year is estimated at $369.7 million, representing a $81.7 million or 28.3 per cent increase in the estimate for the current fiscal year.

Capital expenditures include construction of new buildings or the beginning of laying the fibre-optic line along the Dempster Highway.

The five departments with the largest capital budgets are:

• As is standard, the Department of Highways and Public Works accounts for the lion’s share of capital funding.

Departmental spending for the 2020-21 fiscal year is estimated at $164 million, accounting for 44 per cent of the entire capital budget. The estimate represents an increase of $81.7 million or 28.4 per cent from the estimate for the current fiscal year.

• Capital funding for the Department of Community Services for 2020-21 is estimated at $117.3 million, up $46.3 million or 65.1 per cent from the estimate for the current fiscal year.

• Capital funding for the Yukon Housing Corp. for 2020-21 is estimated at $35.5 million, up $7.3 million or 26.2 per cent from the estimate for the current fiscal year.

• Capital funding for the Department of Education for 2020-21 is estimated at $24.7 million, down $7.3 million or 14 per cent from the estimate for the current fiscal year.

• Capital funding for the Department of Health and Social Services is estimated at $12.8 million, up $365,000 million or three per cent from the estimate for the current fiscal year.

By Gabrielle Plonka
and Chuck Tobin