May 2021 - Education Property Tax Cuts Worsen Income Inequality in Manitoba

The current Manitoba government continues to cut taxes, thereby reducing rev- enues for MB: PST reduction to 7 per cent is a loss of $325 million/ year, the indexation of the BPe and tax brackets and other tax changes result in less revenue for public services. [...] Farmland Education Property Tax Farmland property tax is a small proportion of the education property tax at 7.5 per cent of revenue ($64 million out of $850 million) in 2018/19. [...] Instead of cutting the education property tax, the moderate income line for low, fixed income seniors should be reviewed and a progressive, income tested tax credit tied to the cost of living should be put in place. [...] Retain Education Property Tax for Education and Universal Child Care System Education property taxes are needed to fund the education system and to meet the need to address the “she-session” caused by coVid via building a universal child care system in Manitoba. [...] The Manitoba government should retain the education property tax for needed income for education and childcare and institute mitigating measures to deal with the impacts on low income and fixed income senior homeowners and renters.