The provincial government's first quarter results are in and things are looking pretty rosy these days. An unbudgeted windfall of equalization money from Ottawa and increased oil and gas money results in a gusher of cash for government, but relief for weary taxpayers is but a trickle.

As usual, the latest update contains a boat load of spin.

"Our government continues to make debt reduction a priority," Finance Minister Pat Atkinson proclaims in the government press release announcing the results. "First Quarter improvements, together with a higher-than-expected 2006-07 surplus, mean that forecast government debt will drop by $400 million."

Not so fast, minister! Before you go ahead and make impressive-sounding proclamations about dramatic debt relief, you should give taxpayers the whole story. Yes, provincial debt is forecast to be $400 million lower than budgeted, but the government still plans to withdraw $349 million from its "fiscal stabilization fund."

In cased you missed it, the government is raking in money like never before. In fact, government revenues are forecast to be 37 per cent higher than was budgeted in 2001. To put it another way, the province is collecting nearly $9,000 more per family of four than it was when Premier Calvert took over in 2001. An embarrassment of riches, yet they still plan to draw down from the provincial savings account in order to pay the bills.

As of the end of the first quarter, the government is $100 million over budget. Expect that to get much, much worse. It is an election year after all and the government is already opening the taps and pouring money in every politically uncertain riding in the province. Hardly a day goes by without another big spending announcement. There was millions for Regina to renovate its hockey arena and surrounding barns for agribition. There was money for the arena in Moose Jaw and more for "cultural facilities" in Meadow Lake and a North Battleford recreation center. The list goes on and on.

With an election just months away, expect the goodies to flow but don't expect any real tax relief. The first quarter update provides just a whiff of relief by increasing the education property tax rebate from 8 to 10 per cent and extending the program until next year.

If the government won't cut taxes when coffers are overflowing, when will they For a moment the government appeared to be coming around to the good sense of tax relief when they cut the PST by two points. That was a big a win for taxpayers, but PST revenues for government are almost as high as they were before they cut the PST.

There's plenty of room for tax relief in this budget, but it's being squeezed by the sheer enormity of government spending initiatives.

Each day the case for permanent and meaningful school tax relief gets stronger. Rising home prices and rental rates are a double whammy for taxpayers. Higher prices take hard earned money out of the pockets of home owners and renters, and rising assessment values provides an easy property tax grab for empire-building municipal and school board politicians.

Provincial MLAs will be knocking on doors this fall. It's the one window every four or five years that taxpayers genuinely have their attention. As the first quarter results attest, this election provides a great opportunity to finally secure meaningful school tax relief.