Truly shameful: I remember building two consecutive surplus-laden budgets myself that led to a framework of responsible budgetary procedures in the years that followed. Now, after three years of mostly Federalist rule, the deficit is sky-high! 
Unfortunately, since you were President last, a combination of an inept GM department, inept administration from both sides of the aisle, and lack of interest in the budget process over the last several years got us to this point. Things were starting to get better in 2018 on all fronts, but then we got President Weatherboy, and that well, didn't help. But I'd note that it is a Federalist Administration that is finally and firmly getting on top of this.
Plus Im pretty sure Yankee said they double counted taxes and had an effective tax rate in excess of 100% due to lazy Marxist accounting back when the budget was "balanced".
I've looked through the Atlasia FY2015 budget and it seems like unusually low spending numbers in some areas were part of the reason for the balanced budget. For instance, total military spending was 63.5% of what it was IRL in that year, income security for veterans was at 50.2%, and administration of justice was at 49.3%. However, some of those changes were offset by areas where spending was higher than it was IRL (education was at 118% for instance, while 'Community and Regional Development' was at 181%). Meanwhile, on the revenue side, there was a carbon tax providing 150 billion per year.
