With a massive budget deficit expected this year, the Saskatchewan government is looking to clamp down on spending.

Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer said Monday his goal is that his next budget not have a penny more of spending than what was outlined in this spring's budget.

"That's going to have its challenges, because there are certain things that ... aren't going to get funded as much as last year. Others are going to get funded more, and some are going to be the same," Gantefoer said. "We'll have to weigh that all out."

Since March, the province's financial plan has been drastically rewritten to deal with collapsing potash prices.

A $1-billion deficit is now projected for the province's overall finances. Spending has also come under more scrutiny, with NDP Opposition leader Dwain Lingenfelter accusing the government of spending "like a drunken sailor."

In its mid-year financial update, the province said it cut $232-million in spending from the original budget estimate of $10.2-billion.

Consultations begin

With all that behind him, Gantefoer is beginning his consultations with interest groups this week to talk about next year's budget.

One of the first groups to tell him what it wants to see in that plan was the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation.

Taxpayers' spokesman Colin Craig talked about potential changes to the health care system and suggested private hospitals would keep more money in Saskatchewan by providing a service that some people leave the province to buy.

"You would keep the public system, but at the same time you would allow a private hospital to open up," Craig told CBC News.

Craig is also urging the government to follow through on further cuts to education taxes, as promised in the spring.

In recent weeks, ministers with the Saskatchewan Party government have suggested $53-million in proposed property tax relief might be put on hold.

"School taxes are a horrible form of taxation because they're insensitive to income," Craig said. "If you lose your job that school tax bill is still going to be waiting for you."