In its recent budget, the Brad Wall government had some difficult choices to make. It could have asked the rich to pay a little more. Instead, it told the poor to pay a lot more. Though this budget may help reduce the provincial deficit, it will be bad for poverty and for the long-term health of the Saskatchewan economy. There are two important public policy considerations: 1) How different taxes impact different income groups; 2) How different budgetary decisions impact job creation.

(Photo: Skyscapes via Getty Images) The province's low-income tax credit will receive a $34-million enhancement, ostensibly to cushion the blow for low-income households -- but this pales in comparison with the estimated $872 million in revenue that the PST changes will bring in. According to the recent analysis by Trevor Tombe and Blake Shaffer, all of these tax changes will hit lower-income households harder than higher-income households. Factoring in the cuts to income tax, the increase to PST and the Low Income Tax Credit, earners in the bottom ten per cent will see a two per cent increase in taxes as a percentage of household income. That steadily declines as incomes rise, while those in the top 10 per cent will see no increase at all to the taxes they pay. Good budgeting invests in people while strengthening the economy. When one factors in inflation, there will be a reduction in total program spending of approximately 4.3 per cent. Health funding will grow (by 0.7 per cent), but that simply reflects a national trend due in part to an aging population. Base funding for colleges and universities is being cut by five per cent. Operating funding for school boards is being cut by 1.2 per cent. The budget cuts funding for libraries all over the province; this will lead to job losses and less access to literacy services. The government will even stop funding funeral services for social assistance recipients. The Wall government hopes to wipe out the deficit by 2019-20. It may just do that, but largely on the backs of lower-income households. Good budgeting invests in people while strengthening the economy. This budget did neither. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: