investing $42.5 million to help make post-secondary education more affordable opening at least four new Collaborative Emergency Centres this year providing tax breaks, such as an increase in the basic personal amount by $250 reducing departmental spending by $170 million investing $28 million to improve business productivity providing $7.9 million to low-income families to help make ends meet. Better health care for local seniors, help for local farmers and improvements to area infrastructure are some of the highlights for Amherst and Cumberland County in the provincial budget today, April 5th. “This budget invests in health care, growing the economy, helping people make ends meet, all while ensuring government lives within its means,” said Graham Steele, Minister of Finance. “We still have a difficult financial situation to address, but this budget shows that we are on target to balance in 2013, as promised.” Highlights for Cumberland County in today’s budget include: For more information on the 2011-12 provincial budget, visit www.gov.ns.ca hiring of a nurse practitioner to visit nursing homes in Cumberland Health Authority and care for seniors where they live, saving them the stress and discomfort of a trip to hospital funding for the new West Highlands Elementary School in Amherst and improvements to River Hebert District High School and other local schools new nursing home beds for Springhill an enhanced soil amendment program for local farmers funds to implement the Homegrown Success agricultural plan helping Cumberland County entrepreneurs by reducing the small business tax to four per cent from 4.5 per cent, the second consecutive year it has declined continued and stable funding support for Cumberland Regional Library repaving of a portion of Highway 104, replacement of the Springhill Junction bridge and other road upgrade and paving projects continued and stable funding support for local museums, such as the Fundy Geological Museum Total revenues for 2011-12, including net income from government business enterprises, are estimated at $8.5 billion, a decrease of $133 million over the 2010-11 estimates. The 2011 budget projects a deficit of $389.6 million. This is in line with the $370-million deficit anticipated in the province’s four-year fiscal plan. Total expenses for fiscal 2011-12 are budgeted at $9.3 billion, up $323.0 million from 2010-11, entirely because of reinstating university funding. Today’s budget also includes: 