Now that everyone has paid their property tax bills for this year, take a good look at your tax bill. Depending upon which municipality you live in, your school tax bill can make up 55% to 65% of your entire property tax bill. Our municipalities have generally held the line on tax increases over the last number of years and have managed your tax dollars wisely. I can also say that your School Trustees have been working extremely hard to ensure that the money they collect through your property taxes are well spent, but our School Trustees have had a difficult problem to deal with. That problem was forced on our School Trustees because of the forced amalgamation of the former Agassiz School Division with the Springfield portion of Transcona-Springfield School Division. This amalgamation was forced on our School Trustees by this NDP government. The forced amalgamation dramatically increased costs for Sunrise School Division. This NDP government did not substantially increase its funding of education to the Sunrise School Division to compensate, so our School Trustees were forced to dramatically increase its assessment on property owners within the School Division. As a result, your property taxes went up dramatically. Blame this NDP government for this, not your School Trustees!

It’s time that the Provincial Government uses existing general revenues to reduce or eliminate your school taxes on your property tax bill. By continuing to ignore those school taxes and by continuing to allow our school taxes to increase, many of our seniors who want to continue to live in their homes, will be forced to sell their homes to eliminate their property and school tax bills. This NDP government is over-taxing all Manitobans, and it affects those on fixed incomes the most – our seniors!