Five school divisions in Winnipeg have voted to comply with a tax directive from the province to avoid facing a financial penalty.
The board of trustees for the Winnipeg School Division voted on Monday.
After the board tabled a 2.9 per cent tax increase, Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced school divisions would face a fine for going over the two per cent mark.
“We had no choice but to follow their decree,” said Chris Broughton, the chair of the WSD’s board of trustees.
The board voted 7 to 2 in favour of compliance with the province, although Broughton said the province’s budget is “unequitable.”
“In this year’s budget, there will be no additions to address the accessibility and accountability needs identified and discussed with our constituents,” Broughton said in a release.
Slashes to the budget should be expected in the next school year.
“We are now in a position where we must prepare our school communities with the reality that some of these programs will be negatively impacted as soon as 2020/21 because of revenue restrictions being placed on school divisions by the province,” he said.
In a statement to CTV News, Goertzen said he believes only one division plans to increase taxes by more than two per cent.
“We are pleased to see that the Winnipeg School Division was able to do what every other school division in Manitoba could. We are committed as a government to providing support to students and protecting taxpayers,” he said.
The two per cent increase to the special requirement funding actually means a 2.45 per cent, or $35 a year increase on property taxes for taxpayers within WSD boundaries. This is based on the average assessed value of $214,200 on a home in the school district.
The final budget approved by the board of trustees includes expenditures of $417,444,400 for the fiscal year.
RETSD approves nearly $200 million budget
The River East Transcona School Division board of trustees approved a $196.6 million budget on Tuesday that meets all cap directives issued by the government.
“Ensuring our students have the programs and services they need to be successful while meeting the government directives was a challenge, but I’m very pleased of the work we’ve done,” said Colleen Carswell, chair of the board, in a news release.
School taxes in the division are going up by 0.25 per cent, which amounts to about $4 more annually for an average home valued at $278,600.
The budget also includes funds for 17.5 new full-time equivalent teaching jobs.
“We have ensured the budget meets the needs of our growing student population,” said Brianne Goertzen, chair of the board’s finance committee.
Seven Oaks School Division to increase school tax by 1.99 per cent
The Seven Oaks School Division’s trustees passed their budget of over $150 million on Monday night.
“We’ve done our best to ensure that our budget provides what’s needed for our students,” said board chair Edward Ploszay in a news release.
Taxes in the division are going up by 1.99 per cent, which means an extra $8.72 a month for the average home valued at $297,300.
In the release, the school division said it will pass a further tax increase of $35.12 due to the province’s withdrawal of tax increment grant funding of $893,972.
“We continue to spend well below the provincial average, but due to our limited commercial assessment our mill rate is higher than it should be. We will continue to press the province to correct this inequity,” said Ploszay.
In an effort to reduce costs, the school division is getting rid of two administrative jobs, eliminating some contracted services and cancelling some after school programs.
The news release notes the trustees are opening an eight-room addition to Amber Trails Community School, and construction is set to begin this spring on a Kindergarten to Grade 5 dual track school.
St. James-Assiniboia caps special requirement increase at 2 per cent
The St. James-Assiniboia School Division is boosting its special requirement funding by 2 per cent, falling within the government’s directive. This means a 3.53 per cent school tax increase, which amounts to an additional $56.70 annually for the average homeowner.
The division said if provincial grants for the tax incentive grant had remained constant, it would have stuck to a tax increase of only 1.77 per cent.
Pembina Trails School Division decreases school taxes
In the 2019/20 school year, homeowners in the Pembina Trails School Division will be paying less in school taxes than they did the year before.
The school division said it is cutting taxes by 0.3 per cent, which means the average homeowner will see a decrease of 58 cents per month.
“Our board is confident that we have brought forward a budget that supports student success, while keeping administration costs in line with the minister of education’s direction,” said board chair Jaime Glenat in a news release.
In a previous version of this article it stated that a Winnipeg school increased taxes beyond the provincial directive. This is incorrect as the directive was a two per cent cap on the special requirement increase, and the St. James-Assiniboia School division did in fact limit their special requirement fund to a two per cent hike.
- With files from Jason Gaidola
