The 2012 provincial budget released Tuesday should give businesses in New Westminster reason to be cautiously optimistic, according to the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber released a statement reacting to the to budget on Tuesday, saying it appears to have the expected restraint in spending and movement towards a balanced budget.
"We are looking for B.C. to stay the course as per balancing the budget and to ensure accountable and responsible spending," said chamber president Andrew Hopkins, in a press release. "This will enhance our economic development efforts by sending a strong message to potential investors."
Hopkins said changes to tax rates and the tax code are always the first things businesses look for when examining a budget, as they have a big effect on a business's bottom line.
"I would say, for small business, holding tax rates where they are or even reducing them a bit," he said, adding that the budget's possible one per cent increase in the corporate tax in 2014/2015 is still cause for uncertainty.
"They were going to drop it down with the HST in place, and now the HST is out, so it's sort of taking one away and adding another. Overall, I think trying to focus more on small business would be more fair, because there is a lot of small business in New Westminster, and our members are primarily small businesses."
Hopkins said one of the high points in the budget is funding for skills training initiatives, especially in the shipbuilding industry. While shipyards in North Vancouver will be doing the work, Hopkins said that will spin off and benefit New West as well.
Beyond that, Hopkins said the $10,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers will also be a boon to the Royal City, which is an affordable market for new buyers and still has many new homes under construction.
"Anything that a new homebuyer can get to enhance the opportunity to purchase their first home is great," he said.
Chamber members also approve of the elimination of the fuel tax on international flights and increased spending on marketing of the province as a business and tourism destination, both of which are already having effects, according to Cori Lynn Germiquet, the chamber's executive director.
"Just with that announcement alone, YVR has had an automatic increase in requests from international flyers to fly into YVR," she said. "Even though their destination is YVR, we're still going to see that spin off in our regional market as well. - With limited dollars in our tourism organization, anything we can do from a provincial perspective and a regional perspective to attract those tourist dollars is welcome."
Gordon Hobbis, owner of Cap's Bicycle Shop, said he is still analyzing the budget and waiting for the HST to be eliminated.
"The budget's got some good news and it's got some belt-tightening. Anything that creates jobs and keeps us afloat right now, we have to support. That's a good idea," Hobbis said.
Hobbis said he is glad to see some older tax credits his customers benefited from spared in the budget.
"I'm pretty excited about the $500 credit for kids who are doing arts and sports," he said referring to the children's fitness credit and the children's arts credit. "We want to see more kids cycling."
Whether the budget bodes for good times ahead or tough times, Hobbis said the store his father started 80 years ago is built to survive any economic climate.
"One time I asked my dad, 'Why bikes?' and his answer was, 'People will want bikes in the good times and they'll need bikes in the bad times.' So I think whatever happens with the budget - how it affects people, we're OK."
