A TAXING PROBLEM
School-tax season has rolled around once more, and many off-island property owners are again in the same infuriating situation. In parts of the province, including Laval, the Laurentians and several places on the South Shore, those who pay their school taxes to the English school board pay significantly more than do their neighbours who pay theirs to the French one. In the Outaouais, the shoe is on the other foot.
There has been a considerable amount of hue and cry over the years about this odd system.
The rules create a vicious circle for many of Quebec’s English school boards. Because they tend to have smaller populations spread over larger territories than do their French counterparts, they often have to charge a higher tax rate. Parents with children enrolled in public school are required to pay their school taxes to that board, but others are free to choose. Not surprisingly, many people opt for the lower rate. The more taxpayers a board loses, the more economic pressure it faces to raise rates.
The situation sets individual interests against community ones. An English-speaking taxpayer might prefer to support the local English board. But what if that community spirit costs hundreds of dollars? Not all can afford the altruistic choice.
The system also penalizes young families with children in English schools. They are stuck with the higher rate (except in the Outaouais). Hardly an incentive to send one’s children to English schools, though obviously many things factor into school choice.
The situation is particularly dramatic for those in the territory of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier board, which covers a huge area north of Montreal. It charges the maximum-allowed rate of 35 cents per $100 of property evaluation. Rates vary among the several francophone boards within that same territory; to cite two examples, the rate is 23.095 cents per $100 in the Laval board, and only 10.54 cents for des Laurentides.
Last month, Education Minister Sébastien Proulx told reporters his government was studying two possible remedies. The obvious solution would be to create school-tax regions within which taxes would be harmonized, as on the island of Montreal, where a central authority handles school taxes for all boards, of both languages. Setting a single rate for the whole province would be a bad idea, as it would penalize Montreal, where property values are higher than in more remote areas.
With any luck, a solution will be in place by next year. But who knows? The wheels of government move slowly — except when it comes to collecting taxes, of course.