MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Saskatchewan residents are having their say about education funding at a series of public meetings now under way across the province.
Ray Boughen, the former Moose Jaw mayor and educator charged with reviewing how the Kindergarten to Grade 12 system is funded, held the first of 16 meetings in his home town.
About two dozen people attended, mainly school board representatives.
Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities president Neal Hardy was the only person to make a presentation. Others participated in discussions at their tables.
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Hardy reiterated SARM’s long-held position that the burden of education tax on property must be alleviated.
He said an average increase in education tax of 250 percent since 1982 is unacceptable.
He pointed out that the cost of education tax per quarter section of farmland is higher in Saskatchewan than in neighbouring provinces. The average is about $500 in Saskatchewan, $250 in Manitoba and $125 in Alberta, he said.
“We’ve got to find a solution,” Hardy said. “I don’t think rural Saskatchewan can afford to have it keep increasing.”
Ken Horsman, executive director of Boughen’s education funding commission, said the education tax on farmland paid $160 million of the $646 million raised from property in 2001.
He also noted that the Saskatchewan government contributes the lowest share of any provincial government to education operating costs. The province paid 41 percent in 2001.
Boughen plans to present an interim report to the government by Sept. 30, after the public meetings are over. He will accept written submissions until Nov. 7 and is expected to present his final report, with recommendations, by Dec. 31.
For more information about the hearings and other commission documents, visit www.producer.com and click on links in the news.
