Spending on the brain

Well, it's almost budget time here in BC, so here are a couple of snapshots from the pre-budget indrawn breath.

By Rob Shaw, via the Victoria Times Colonist: B.C. Budget 2010: Gaming grants battle, unions brace for bad news, property tax deferrals:

Thousands of community groups that normally pay little attention to provincial budgets will be keeping a watchful eye -- and their lawyers at the ready -- when the B.C. government tables its latest financial plan Tuesday.

At stake are tens of millions of dollars in government gaming grants that the charities and non-profits want restored. If they don't get it, they're threatening to take the province to court in an all-out war to reclaim the cash.

Government cut the grant money -- at least $29 million -- in its September budget update, as part of widespread efforts to slash spending in the face of plummeting provincial revenues and a projected $2.8-billion deficit.

Charities weren't the only ones hit during the fiscal belt-tightening, and they are not alone in nervously waiting for more cuts to come in this budget.

School districts are still wincing from the sudden loss of provincial facility maintenance grants, and hope new funding might help balance their budgets. If not, many school boards have signalled they'll have to continue cutting staff and closing schools.

Read the rest here.

Meanwhile, also via the Colonist: B.C. Budget 2010: Property tax deferrals may come by June; and B.C. Budget 2010: Union leaders brace for more bad news.