Turtle Mountain facing hefty tax hike

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This article was published 13/03/2025 (188 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Turtle Mountain School Division plans to send a bigger bill to property owners to pay for enlarged teacher salaries and to stop class sizes from growing.

In an email to the Sun, TMSD Supt. Grant Wiesner said the division expects a 16.55 per cent increase in its special levy tax. The tax is charged to property owners as a way to fund school divisions when their cost of operation is higher than government funding.

“Balancing the budget this year was once again a very difficult task based on the support funding from the province,” Wiesner wrote. “The Turtle Mountain School Division Board of Trustees understands that property taxes are an important consideration for residents and recognizes that any tax increase can impact household budgets.”

The school board was set to vote on the budget Wednesday night.

Under the proposed increase, homes in Ward 2 (Killarney and area) would be impacted the most, according to the estimates. A home worth $300,000 would see its property tax raised by about $178 compared to the previous year. The assessed value of homes in the Ward 2 area increased by about 11 per cent, which contributes to the projected change in property taxes.

Homes in Ward 1 (Boissevain and area) would be impacted the least based on the estimates provided to the Sun. A home worth $300,000 would see its property tax increase by about $58 compared to the previous year. The assessed value of homes in the Ward 1 area increased by only about two per cent.

Homes in the Municipality of Grasslands area would see a middling impact compared to neighbours. A home worth $300,000 would see its property tax increase by about $86 compared to the previous year. The assessed value of homes in the Municipality of Grasslands increased by about four per cent, contributing to this change.

The increased costs come as TMSD looks for ways to fund teacher contracts and a growing student population. Wiesner told the Sun the division’s goal with its budget is just to maintain the status quo with quality education rather than adding new programs.

Wiesner said the division expects to use the tax increase to cover basics, such as the contracted three per cent pay raise to teachers in September, as well as to hire four new teachers, a half-time human resource manager, a near-full-time teacher for specialized student support and to upkeep buses.

TMSD is the most recent in a list of school divisions across Westman to confirm to the Sun an expected tax hike driven by pay raises and benefit increases to teachers. Spokespersons from Beautiful Plains, Brandon, Fort La Bosse and Rolling River school divisions also cited swelling budgets driven by teacher contracts that were negotiated last year by the provincial government.

The secretary treasurer at Beautiful Plains School Division out of Neepawa told the Sun this week that education property taxes are expected to increase by about 12 per cent. Brandon School Division raised its levy by about seven per cent, and Fort La Bosse Supt. Barry Pitz told the Sun he expected an increase of somewhere below six per cent to balance rising school costs. Each spokesperson said rising costs were driven primarily by the new teacher contracts

In the Rolling River School Division, Supt. Jason Cline did not yet provide information on whether there will be a tax increase. However, Cline told the Sun in February that the division was dealing with a shortfall in funding from the province to pay out salary and benefit increases to teachers.

The shortfall in TMSD was significant, Wiesner said when asked about the upcoming budget.

Wiesner said the province added roughly $110,000 in funding to TMSD — only about one-eighth of what that the division would have to pay as a result of increased salaries and benefits that the province negotiated with teachers, and as a result of growing student enrolment.

TMSD’s proposed budget for 2025-26 is set at $18,180,452, up from $16,035,336 the previous year. Wiesner said this increase was driven in large part by contract obligations.

Ratified in 2024, the contract for all teachers in anglophone school divisions across Manitoba added up to roughly 12 per cent in pay raises across four years. The period for this increase was between 2022 and 2026.

The three per cent pay raise this September, leading to budget difficulties across Westman, was part of this contract.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com