Most of the property tax relief offered up in the 2006 provincial budget will be eroded by school tax increases, just as the CTF warned as school boards completed their budgets. This year school division tax increases range from 3.4 percent in Winnipeg One to as high as 13.9 percent in St-James Assiniboia.

It is becoming a predictable formula for school tax increases in Manitoba which goes something like this: school divisions decry the lack of funding from the province; the province puts out an annual news release declaring what a great thing they have done by increasing school funding; school divisions increase taxes.

The political blame game is not fun and hasn't been for a long time since it leaves taxpayers paying for school divisions where superintendents earn exorbitant salaries (Jan Schubert in Winnipeg One earned $171,029 last year), enrollment is declining, and services and programs have remained the same.

School taxes are inherently unfair as the value of property is not necessarily a reflection of wealth. In a survey commissioned by the Manitoba Real Estate Association (MREA) released in November 2005 shows "more than 6 out of every 10 Manitobans (62%) agree that funding of Manitoba's public education system should come from the province's general revenues, rather than from property taxes. That number jumps 10 percent (72%) for Manitobans 55+." Lorne Weiss, spokesman for the MREA confirmed what the CTF has been saying for years: ". . . Manitobans no longer want the value of their property to determine if they can afford school taxes."

For their part, school boards have shown not shown any willingness or ability to keep spending under control. So this begs the question. . . why do we need them If the province were to pick up 100 percent of the funding tab, it takes away the need for divisions to have taxing authority. Perhaps this cumbersome layer of bureaucracy should be removed altogether and replaced by voluntary committees to oversee our schools.

The Minister of Education, who has been absent from the entire debate, needs to recognize that homeowners would be much better served by centralizing taxing and spending through the provincial tax base. As for students, they would be better off if issues like curriculum were devolved to the local level, putting decision making or management power backing into the hands of parents, principals and educators.

Another factor contributing to the growing demand for funding changes is declining enrollment. All across the province enrollment has dropped, particularly in Grade 1 and there are 19 schools in Winnipeg alone showing two to four times more students in senior grades than in younger grades. Some schools have implemented multi-grade classrooms, with some success. But that still leaves taxpayers on the hook paying for schools which may no longer be financially viable. A tough decision to make, but schools may have to be closed - a fact many trustees are loathe to do, particularly in an election year.

Inaction on the school tax debate will only exacerbate the public's frustration; for a government that will likely be facing the electorate in a year, they might want to consider another strategy.