It may seem like kids these days don’t know the value of a dollar. Offering $5 won’t attract as many kids as it used to for snow shovelling or lawn mowing. Video games are probably part of the problem, but maybe kids know more about the value of a dollar than we think.

For years, the provincial budget has ignored a basic economic point that even young people grasp intuitively: the value of money changes over time. The result has been bracket creep. And it’s costing taxpayers in Manitoba a lot of money.

Politicians often make bracket creep sound complicated to confuse taxpayers, but it’s actually simple.

Here’s how it works: our incomes tend to go up gradually over time; but, prices for the things we need also rise. So, numbers on pay cheques may grow, but the amount of stuff we can buy with that money stays about the same.

Simple enough, right?

This is where bracket creep becomes a problem. Manitoba’s income tax brackets do not change even though the value of money changes. In 2009, $75,000 bought the same amount of stuff that $84,000 buys today. But today’s tax brackets don’t reflect that change.

This is where bracket creep hurts taxpayers. Manitobans pay 17.4 per cent tax on income over $67,000. In 2009, Manitobans with an income of $75,000 didn’t lose much to that top tax bracket. Now, Manitobans making the equivalent amount of money in today’s dollars (i.e. $84,000) pay a lot more at that top tax rate. This year those Manitobans are paying an extra $443 in taxes, not because they really make more money, but because the province refuses to adjust tax brackets. Since 2009, the tax loss in that one example totals nearly $1,576.

It may be tempting to think fossilized tax brackets are an unchangeable act of nature, but a quick look around proves that’s not true.

Saskatchewan indexes its tax brackets to inflation so that its tax thresholds change as the value of money changes. That means people in Saskatchewan don’t hit that province’s top rate of 15 per cent until they make $127,430.

In fact, all of the provinces west of the Maritimes adjust their tax brackets to reflect reality each year.

Think about what this means: middle-class people in Manitoba have a heavier income tax burden than the highest income people in neighbouring Saskatchewan and Ontario.

Why is this happening in Manitoba? Every politician in the province swears up and down that the welfare of the middle class is the highest priority. Why are income taxes slowly but steadily squeezing more and more money out of those same middle-class taxpayers?

Provincial spending keeps going up faster than its income. Instead of reigning in spending, the government raises taxes. Bracket creep is of the most insidious ways that happens.

Politicians that care about taxpayers will fix bracket creep. It’s not a glamorous issue, but it’s costing Manitoban families more and more money and it needs to be stopped. Politicians that fail to address bracket creep don’t care about taxpayers – it’s that simple.

Kids today know the value of a dollar – the provincial government needs to recognize it too.