REGINA – A resolution at the 2003 Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention closely resembled one from 1964 calling for education tax reform.
It is an issue that has followed the convention for four decades and is now about to go away, said SARM president Neal Har-dy, after listening to a presentation by a government commission investigating how Kindergarten to Grade 12 education is funded in the province.
Farmers and other Saskatchewan property owners feel the education portion of their property tax bills is too high.
Reading between the lines of a recent report on the subject, Hardy thinks the newly elected NDP government is poised to correct that inequity once and for all.
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“I think they will substantially re-duce it,” he said.
He anticipates a gradual four-year reduction in school taxes.
“I’ve got a feeling it will even be in this year’s budget,” he said.
Hardy was reacting to an interim report delivered by commissioner Ray Boughen at SARM’s 2003 annual convention in Regina last week.
Boughen told delegates his report summarizes what the commission heard through 16 public meetings, 148 written submissions and 52 one-on-one discussions, but it draws no conclusions on the subject.
He said there is a resounding sentiment that the province has to pick up more of the education tab. The province contributes 41 percent of education funding, while school divisions raise 59 percent through the property tax base and other revenues.
Data from Statistics Canada shows that Saskatchewan targets a lower percentage of expenditures to elementary and secondary education than any other province.
Some people thought the government should pay the entire cost of K-12 education, but many felt a reversal of the current situation would be appropriate, where the government picks up 60 percent of the tab and property owners the remaining 40 percent.
Boughen said if the money does not come from property tax it will have to come from somewhere else. He heard suggestions ranging from adding two percent to the provincial sales tax to increasing fuel and income taxes to using lottery money to fund education.
But another “important” option to explore is reducing the expenditure side of the equation, he said.
Some submissions he received suggested reducing the number of school boards in the province. Even after a voluntary restructuring process, it is expected that Saskatchewan will have about 80 school divisions by Jan. 1, 2004, more than any other province in Canada.
In addition to amalgamating school divisions, the province could reduce duplication by combining some services it offers through public, separate, First Nations, francophone and private schools.
Funding allocation
There was also a proposal that the education costs of special needs children be funded through the health or social services departments.
Garry Hoppe, councillor for the RM of Glenside, thought the idea made sense.
“I kind of like the suggestion of allocating costs where they belong.”
But he cautioned Boughen to exercise some discretion because amalgamation could lead to more costs and less autonomy for school boards.
Another delegate asked the commissioner if he compared rural versus urban taxes. Boughen referred him to a chart in the interim report that showed between 1986 and 2003, school taxes paid per capita in the RM of Hillsdale went up 196 percent compared to an 18 percent increase in the village of Neilburg.
Boughen said the commission will be exploring education financing reform options with groups like SARM, the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, the Saskatchewan School Trustees Association and the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation.
A final report that includes recommendations is scheduled to be presented to the ministers of finance and education by Dec. 31.
