Ron Borys expected to walk out of the tax revolt strategy meeting with a blueprint and a slate, but he left empty-handed.
The purpose of the Feb. 9 meeting was to hone the general feeling of discontent over education tax into a specific proposal that could be dumped in the laps of provincial government ministers.
A second goal was to elect candidates to run against the executive of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities at the group’s annual meeting in March. Organizers of the tax revolt movement feel SARM has bungled the education tax issue.
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But when the strategy meeting came to an end, all Borys had was a vaguely-worded resolution. There were no specific demands for what the group wants to see from government and nobody came forward to run against SARM president Sinclair Harrison and his board of directors.
“I had really hoped that we would come out with something a little more concrete,” said Borys, an organizer of the province-wdie tax revolt that’s spreading throughout rural Sask-atchewan.
The resolution that passed is almost identical to the ones adopted at tax revolt meetings held in dozens of rural municipalities. It calls on taxpayers to withhold their property taxes until the government removes the education portion of those taxes “and applies it fairly to every Saskatchewan citizen.”
Richard Truscott, director of the Saskatchewan Taxpayers Federation, was invited to speak at the meeting. He left the Watrous Civic Centre thinking ratepayers had reaffirmed their resolve to keep pressure on the government.
But Truscott also felt they had failed to set a specific course of action.
“What they lack is a resolution or a plan of action that has any teeth,” Truscott said.
His advice to the group was to tell the provincial government that if there isn’t meaningful education tax reform in the upcoming March budget they will circulate a petition to force a province-wide vote on the school tax issue.
Borys said the 176 rural taxpayers who signed in at the Watrous meeting left it to the provincial government to determine how the education tax should be fairly applied.
“It’s pretty broad terminology,” Borys said, referring to the taxpayers’ resolution. “The government knows what’s fair. They’re leaving (government officials) some flexibility.”
Most of the debate at the meeting focused on two resolutions.
One called on SARM officials to unite with the tax revolt movement and demand that the provincial government reduce Saskatchewan’s education tax on agricultural land to an annual maximum of $30 million.
The other resolution suggested that SARM lobby the provincial government to shift education tax from agricultural land to a residential property tax base.
Both resolutions failed.
“The feeling was real strong from the people there that they didn’t want to have bugger all to do with SARM,” said Borys.
There was also unanimous condemnation of a tax reform proposal put forth by a coalition of six farm groups. That proposal called for education tax on agricultural land to be capped at 1999 levels and reduced by 15 percent every year until 2010.
It would reduce Saskatchewan farmers’ share of education tax to $30 million from $150 million over a 10-year period.
Borys said he will present the resolution to provincial government
officials.
“We’ll just get them the message and let them deal with it,” he said
