I got my gas bill the other day, and it contained a nice surprise, in that my monthly payment is dropping considerably on the next bill. Thanks, Terasen.
But, then I remembered that come July 1, my gas bill will increase again because the harmonized sales tax (HST) is going to be applied to it, so there goes my savings.
It really does frustrate one to finally get a break, and then have it taken away again so quickly.
No-one knows for sure how much the HST is going to affect us, but you can be sure that you'll have less spending power once it's in place. Even dying won't get you out of their grip, because funerals are going to get more expensive, too. It's enough to drive one to drink, except that's going to go up too.
How is this tax going to affect the other tax-levying groups, like the school board and the city? Are they going to have to up their rates or cut services to pay their part of the HST?
The Liberals tell us that the HST is going to be good for B.C., that it will help create jobs. I for one would welcome that, but I don't believe that there is a any correlation between a tax break for large corporations and an increase in employment in B.C. If it's true why didn't they give us this information during the election campaign where we would have had a chance to discuss it with them?
Ron Williams
Prince George
