Premier Kathleen Wynne won’t say if her Liberal government still considers $160,000 to be a middle-class family income when it comes to potential new taxes for improved public transit.

That was the eligibility threshold set by her predecessor Dalton McGuinty in 2011 — when Wynne was a cabinet minister — for a 30 per cent tuition cut aimed at “middle-class” college and university students.

“I’m not saying that we’re not deviating from that,” Wynne told reporters Monday after a spate of interviews earlier in the day in which she repeatedly refused to be pinned down on a number.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak accused her of playing a “cat and mouse game” but would also not say what he considers to be a middle-class income.

“The premier has to put some meaning around it,” said Hudak, who has a master’s degree in economics.

Wynne said Ontarians will have to wait until Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s spring budget to find out.

“There are different numbers that are used in terms of middle income . . . there is a broad swath of people earning an income that is making it tough for them to make ends meet,” she added.

“There are different think-tanks and different organizations that will define middle income differently . . . we will bring forward a plan in the budget that will make it clear how we are going to raise revenue and how we’re going to build transit going forward.”

Wynne repeated her promise to set up a dedicated transit fund after last week ruling out raising gasoline taxes, the HST and higher income taxes for middle-come families and individuals to pay for transit.

Gas tax hikes had been among the recommendations from a blue-ribbon panel headed by Anne Golden on funding for the $50 billion Big Move project in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

No date has been set for a spring budget, which, if defeated in the minority legislature, could prompt a snap election.

Earlier Monday, Hudak said Wynne’s Liberals knew a year ago they were “not on track” to meet deficit targets key to reaching a balanced budget promised by the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

He released Ministry of Finance documents obtained by a legislative committee, revealing the government was at the time $4.5 billion behind deficit reduction targets set in 2012.

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Wynne described the documents as “working papers” and said the government updated its figures in the fall, when it was $5 billion shy because of lower-than-expected revenues.

“We’ve calibrated spending accordingly,” Sousa told reporters.

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