The day Saskatchewan taxpayers stop working for the government and start working for themselves falls on June 26, according to the Fraser Institute - an economic think tank. That means Saskatchewan taxpayers will work the equivalent of 177 days each year to feed the three levels of government.

The only province with a greater tax load than Saskatchewan is Quebec - and they come just a day behind this province.

The average household will pay $17,772 to the federal government this year, and $11,934 to the province. Municipal governments and school boards swallow another $3,183 - highest in the country. Families pay another $1,453 in fuel taxes and licensing fees - also the highest in the land.

In fact, it's the property and fuel taxes that set us apart from other provinces. There is no other province with atrocious school tax rates like Saskatchewan.

The question to consider is what kind of value do you get in return for your tax dollars What do you get in return when you turn over 48 per cent of your income to the three levels of government

In Ottawa you get billions of dollars in surplus money that is returned to you in dribs and drabs. You pay for a justice system that is clogged up and slow. Canadians pay billions for an equalization program to help out taxpayers in Manitoba and Quebec and nearly $10 billion goes to Indian Affairs to subsidize and encourage dependency.

And what does the province do with the $12,000 your average family hands over each and every year Well, it doesn't even come close to funding your share of the health care system which fails, frustrates or disappoints people every day. Of the hundreds of millions the government collects in fuel taxes, only 60 per cent goes back into our roads.

Just recently the government gave $4.5 million to the City of Weyburn in case they need to bulldoze the old mental hospital there. If the city happens to find a tenant for the building and don't need to bulldoze the building, well heck, they can just keep the money. Of course this little gift to Weyburn comes just days before a bi-election.

You, the taxpayer, are the proud owner of the Meadow Lake Pulp Mill. Unfortunately, the mill will never make money, despite your unapproved investment of $804 million since the early 90s. Unfortunately, you also screwed up a potato deal which cost nearly $40 million in losses and legal fees once you got your clock cleaned in court.

Oh, and don't forget you also just bought part of a failing pork plant in Moose Jaw, and the government won't tell you how much that pulp mill is going to cost this year.

You also helped pay for a low-budget movie glorifying Tommy Douglas and defaming former Premier Jimmy Gardiner, which will not be carried on CBC because of myriad historical inaccuracies. In fact, your tax dollars are subsidizing movies made by profitable multi-national production companies all the time. You happen to pay 30 per cent of the labour costs of any movie company made in Saskatchewan.

Oh yeah, and sorry about raising the PST on your in 2004, but the government didn't have surpluses then as they do now. And no, they won't be rolling that tax hike back, so don't bother asking.

Next time you file your tax return, think hard about whether you're really getting what you pay for.