School tax increase irks Selkirk mayor

RECORD FILE PHOTO BY AUSTIN GRABISH

A tax increase by the Lord Selkirk School Division isn’t sitting well with Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson.

By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record

 Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson has joined a growing chorus of politicians who are decrying an increase in school taxes.

The Lord Selkirk School Division announced a 4.75 per cent increase in taxes earlier this month, and the increase isn’t sitting well with Johannson.

“I don’t think it’s fair and equable,” Johannson said.

Johannson is the latest mayor to come forward and decry a school tax increase.

West St. Paul Mayor Bruce Henley raised concerns about a 4.7 per cent tax increase in the Seven Oaks School Division, which was passed earlier this month.

Both Henley and Johannson want school taxes to be removed from municipal property bills.

Municipalities are required to collect school taxes and hand over the cash to the appropriate school division every year.

But both mayors think many residents don’t realize the taxes, which appear on their bills, aren’t all from their municipality.

“A lot of people look at the bottom line of the bill and compare it to last year’s and they’re thinking holy jeez the tax has gone up,” Johannson said.

The city of Selkirk raised municipal taxes earlier this year by 2.99 per cent, and Johannson said he doesn’t see why the school division can’t raise taxes at a rate that’s close to or on par with the municipality.

He said school divisions need to work harder to lower taxes.

“We should be looking at more efficiencies in the school division,” Johannson said.

“We’re doing it at our end. We’re not just saying spend and pass the taxes onto the citizens and the ratepayers. We’re looking for efficiencies and creating a good budget and sticking to that budget.”

While speaking to the Record after releasing their 2015-2016 budget, Lord Selkirk School Division superintendent Scott Kwasnitza said a tax increase was necessary, and said the only other option would have been cuts to programming and staff.

“If you are going to reduce taxes or hold the line, you are looking at significant reductions to programming and staffing,” said Kwasnitza. “And I don’t think the public wants to see us dismantling staff or programming.

“That would be detrimental to the quality of education in the Lord Selkirk School Division.”
Kwasnitza also said the division is not getting an increase in funding from the province.
 

He said they have a funding agreement with the province, and said that enrollment for next year is expected to decline by about 80 students, so if they did not have that agreement their provincial funding would have actually decreased by about $500,000.“So I’m not criticizing the province. 

I’m just letting people know we aren’t getting an increase,” said Kwasnitza. 

The Lord Selkirk School Division also took $150,000 out of their surplus fund to help mitigate the tax increase.
 

But Johannson thinks the increase is unacceptable.

“I think it’s high. I really do,” he said.

Johannson said every time taxes are increased he hears about it from discontented residents.

“Guess who’s out there and hears about that increase,” he said.

“And I’m sure the councillors hear about it too.”

 -- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition March 26, 2015 p.7