Other budgets also deserve our attention

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/01/2025 (247 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This month, Brandon City Council will have the burden and privilege of pouring over the proposed 2025 budget. The MNP report delivered in December 2023 ratcheted up the attention we pay to the city and its finances.

That attention is not inherently bad, but the conclusion with respect to the city’s finances through to 2026 (at least) is rather predictable — property taxes will be going up significantly. If we allow it, the city finances may unintentionally become a smoke screen for other budgets that deserve attention. These distractions come in the form of a deluge of information including the number of pre-budget meetings, an open house and two full back-to-back days of presentations and debate. That’s all before the financial plan will be subject to its own public hearing and tax bylaw.

Anecdotally, the Brandon School Division levy (before the education tax credit) on my 2024 tax bill was close to 30 per cent of the total. I’m confident that the BSD will not get 30 per cent of our thoughts, criticism, and press coverage. We have aging schools requiring major repairs, climbing student-to-teacher ratios, and no commitments to new school construction (a responsibility of the province).

Perhaps we should be giving more consideration to the BSD finances to ensure spending is allocated well and demand attention from the province. We have a school site earmarked in the southwest secondary plan and the NDP almost flipped Brandon West in 2023. It shouldn’t take much convincing to get a commitment.

And what of Brandon University and Assiniboine College? How big are their budgets? It’s difficult for the average taxpayer to become informed seeing as these institutions largely operate off grants from the provincial government. Unlike a municipal tax bill which gives visibility to the cost of government, provincial taxes are far stealthier.

If you’re anything like me, you have to go out of your way to find out how much of your withheld taxes (paystub deductions) are federal vs. provincial. Not to mention that Manitoba is on the “winning” side of equalization payments which further obscures tax dollar efficiency, but I’ll leave that discussion to persons more qualified.

This is the tip of the iceberg. Think of all the other institutions — Prairie Mountain Health, Manitoba Hydro, Manitoba Public Insurance, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, the Keystone Centre, etc. Some of these institutions do get appropriate attention — others not so much. Perhaps it’s the ones that evade all attention that are the most concerning.

In 2024, my combined paystub deductions (EI/CPP/income tax) dwarfed my property tax bill by a factor of over 29. I am certainly an outlier, however — I opted for housing below my means and have the privilege of a higher than average income. The point I want you to take away is to focus on the 80 per cent as opposed to the 20 per cent.

I encourage you — look up your tax brackets with an online calculator. Compare those results to your property tax bill(s). Judge only after you’ve done this where you should direct any ire for high taxation.

JAMES EPP

Brandon