Summary of Budget 2018 - Key points at a glance

Premier and Finance Minister David Burt enters the House of Assembly grounds on Friday morning to deliver his first budget statement. With him are junior finance minister Wayne Furbert and finance ministry officials. February 16, 2018

The nutshell:

Government is planning on spending just under $1.2 billion over the next year, while raking in just under $1.1 billion. It will borrow the difference of about $89 million. About 16 % of its estimated spend will be vaporised by interest payments on Bermuda’s $2.5 billion debt, leaving just over $1 billion for services and capital needs.

Here are the key points

Economic outlook

Economy remains stagnant although there were some modest signs of strengthening due mainly to the America’s Cup
Unemployment rate remains at 7% – marginal job growth (0.1% or net increase of 40 jobs) last year
Visitor arrivals and visitor spending up by 7.2% and 20.3% respectively
Retail sector increases sales by 2.9% and jobs by 0.7%
Imports increased by 17.6% in the first nine months of 2017 – mainly due to America’s Cup.
Total value of new construction starts in the first nine months of 2017 increased by 517.8% – due primarily to St Regis and airport projects.
Actual value of construction put in place declined by 7%
Growth forecast for 2017 revised downward from 1.5%–2.0% to 0.75%–1.25%.
Inflation stable at 1.9%
Balance of Payments surplus strong – surges by $288 million over 2016 – at $672 million
New international company registrations decreased by 1.1%

Personal Taxes

Payroll tax expected to bring in $454 million in 2018/19, 41.7% of total Government revenues.
Tax reductions for those earning less than $96,000
Tax relief for new positions created in Bermuda
End the notional salaries concept
Tax relief for employers who hire disabled persons
First year tax holiday for new businesses
50% reduction for taxi industry – to be paid by owners

Customs duty

Expected to bring in $234 million or 21.6% of revenue
Sugar tax to be implemented
Tax on certain veggies to be eliminated
Duty relief for sports clubs with youth programmes
Duty lowered for textiles
Duty on tobacco and wine to increase

Other taxes

Temporary 5% increase on land tax for commercial properties
Increased fees for cell phones

Capital Spending

Expected spend: $62 million
Largest item is a $6.3 million loan repayment on Cross Island
Bermuda Housing Corporation grant is $4.8 million
Schools and roads maintenance $3 and $3.3 million respectively
$3 million for new buses

Ministry Highlights

Education and Workforce Development

Education gets $140 million, an increase of $5.8 million
Senior schools get a $1.9 million boost
Bermuda College gets $300k to support students in need
$225k in new money for Workforce Development training programmes

Economic Development and Tourism

$38 million budget – up $3 million
BEDC gets $1 million in new money to expand its capacity to lend money for new businesses
BTA grant = $26 million, increase of $1 million but conditioned on prioritising marketing

Health

$190 million budget, up $27.3 million which restores $25 m subsidy for hospital care for children, indigent and seniors
Another $1.8 million will go toward reopening fourth floor of Sylvia Richardson facility, more community health nurses, vector control, and the child health programme.

Legal Affairs

$600k in new money brings the budget up to $27.7 million.
more legal aid lawyers and three pupillages

National Security

$131 million budget – a $2.1 million reduction by cutting overtime of uniformed services

Public Works

$74 million, down by $1 million – to be saved by moving from rented premises to owned

Transport and Regulatory Affairs

A $62 million budget
$3 million for new buses
$500k toward solar rebates for thermal units for seniors on low incomes
$2.5 million to replace Doppler weather radar system

One More Thing…

You may have noticed that this budget coverage is open access. That’s because we want to give everyone an opportunity to compare our reportage with others.

If you value our efforts please consider helping us thrive by becoming a Supporter. Benefits include full access to all our content, all the time, and privileged access to our live events.

You’ll be supporting the development of independent journalism – journalism that is free of partisan-political or big money influencesBig winners are senior citizens, low income earners and entrepreneurs. But even scions of the dreaded oligarchy could benefit if they play their cards right.

This article belongs to Politica ! The original article can be found here: Summary of Budget 2018 – Key points at a glance