FREDERICTON, NB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is calling on the new tax hikes hitting New Brunswick taxpayers starting July 1st to have a formal sunset clause and be repealed once the budget is balanced. (Photo New Brunswick Legislature:Flickr/Dave King)

“The minister says that he needs to dig deeper into taxpayers’ pockets to fight the deficit. If that’s all it’s for, then he should commit to repeal these tax increases once the budget is balanced,” said Kevin Lacey, Atlantic Director with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Starting July 1st, new income tax increases will raise an extra $168 million for the government. Anyone earning $30,000 a year will pay $174 more; persons earning $60,000 will pay $796 more; and those earning $90,000 will get hit with an increase of $1,780. New Brunswickers’ total payroll tax bill will now be above the national average at most income levels.

Rather than rushing to increase taxes, the CTF wants to see government reduce its costs.

Between 2008 and 2013 government spending has gone up by $1.6 billion or a whopping 25 per cent.

While the CTF supports some changes the government has made, including reducing the sick leave of government workers, changing pension plans and freezing salaries of MLAs, these measures fall short of what is needed.

“The government continues to spend and spend and spend. The only way to get out of the fiscal hole the province faces is to be more aggressive about cutting spending,” added Lacey.

The CTF also believes the government must do better at growing the economy and keeping skilled labour at home in order to grow government revenues.

Between 2008 to 2012, almost 3,400 (net) New Brunswickers packed up and moved to Alberta.

“We’ll never realize the full potential of the gas under our feet or a pipeline across the province if the government pushes out all the people who we need to work on these projects to Fort McMurray,” said Lacey.

To promote economic development, the CTF supports ending corporate hand-outs and holding the line on taxes, with an eye to reducing taxes in order to attract new businesses.

The Nova Scotia government committed to sunset its 2 percentage point increase in the HST put in place in 2010 by 2015, now that it has a balanced budget.