Disgruntled rural Saskatchewan taxpayers have a new ally.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is launching a petition calling on the provincial government to reform its tax laws.
Richard Truscott, Saskatchewan director of the taxpayer federation, said farmers considering withholding their property taxes should instead channel their efforts into petitioning the government for local and province-wide referendums.
“I think it’s a sad commentary on the state of affairs in rural parts of this province where we have citizens who feel they have to resort to civil disobedience as a means of fighting the high tax burden in this province.”
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Rural versus urban
Provincial government figures show school taxes jumped 89 percent for rural taxpayers but 54 percent for urbanites between 1985 and 1997.
A coalition of six farm organizations has proposed that education tax on agricultural land be capped at 1999 levels and reduced by 15 percent every year until 2010 on the declining balance.
Truscott said while he agrees with the coalition’s proposal, he feels a more fundamental change is needed to calculate and collect school taxes.
“I think we need to look at ways of making the system far more sensitive to incomes.”
Truscott said the taxpayers federation will be involved in the school tax debate leading up to the March provincial budget, but he’s not holding his breath for significant reform. He’s not counting on much more than a small school tax rebate.
