Lobbying for education tax changes

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/08/2011 (5533 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Education property taxes — it’s an issue that has once more raised its hoary head as the province’s political parties set their sights on the Oct. 4 election.

And once again it’s an issue that will get short shrift by our campaigning politicians because as an election issue, it’s a political landmine.

As the Winnipeg Free Press wrote yesterday, a coalition of farmers, realtors and cottage owners launched a campaign of their own this week — Let’s Pay Fair — targeting the education tax that funds local school divisions.

The groups, which include the Keystone Agricultural Producers and Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, want the levy eliminated and called for immediate action to increase the province’s share of education funding to 80 per cent.

Among the suggestions to fill the inevitable $650-million budget gap that would be faced by school boards across the province, Manitoba Real Estate Association president Lorne Weiss said education should be funded from general revenues, just like health care.

The tax punishes those on fixed incomes because it doesn’t reflect a person’s ability to pay, he said. Seniors may live in homes that have increased in value while their pensions have stagnated. Cottagers pay education taxes twice, but can’t vote for school trustees in the division where they holiday.

“This isn’t fair taxation,” Weiss said.

Over the last several years, the NDP has introduced an array of credits and rebates that have attempted to ease the sting of rising education taxes, especially for seniors and farmers.

For example, between 2004 and 2011, the Manitoba government has provided farm landowners with ever-larger tax rebates under the Farmland School Tax Rebate program.

When it was first introduced, the rebate sat at 33 per cent. Now in 2011, it’s up to 80 per cent.

But that is not enough for coalition members who called for the province to either dip into Manitoba Hydro’s profits or orchestrate a small rise to income taxes, with a corresponding decrease in the education tax.

Never mind the fact that the Manitoba government doesn’t have the mandate to use a Crown corporation as an education slush fund, Hydro’s profits can fluctuate dramatically. Last year, Hydro netted $163 million — well short of the $650-million education gap.

The corporation also faces significant budgetary hurdles over the next several years thanks to a $20-billion building spree on a controversial transmission line. Skimming Hydro’s profits is just not a realistic option.

Neither is going to the working electorate with a cap in hand during an election year. It would be political suicide to suggest that everyone should pay a little more out of their own pocket, especially as there are far more regular working stiffs than private business owners and farmers in the province.

Though an income tax hike may be a fairer way to pay for education, members of both parties have shot down any such notion on their respective platforms.

It’s highly unlikely that any political leader will change his mind over the next few weeks, though there may be a few token suggestions. Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard wants to eliminate the education levy for seniors, and the Tories platform includes a $700 property tax credit to cottage owners.

Nevertheless, as the political parties illustrated during an education debate last week, committing to reducing education property taxes to the 80-20 target may be about as good as it gets.

And that’s just educated politics.