Quebec is one step closer to reforming the province’s 25-year-old school tax system. The province’s school boards met with the education and finance ministers Friday afternoon to discuss how to make things fair.
“Sometimes people on the same street may pay different school tax rates,” said Finance Minister Carlos Leitao.
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They agree the school tax rate should be set at the lowest current rate in a region, similar to what already happens on the island of Montreal.
The government will pick up the slack for the drop in revenue.
“So now that we announced in our last economic update that we have some margin, our finances are much better because the economy is doing much better. We now have the means to address that question,” Leitao said.
Right now, people who don’t have kids in school can choose to pay their taxes to the school board with the lowest rate. Jennifer Maccarone, the president of the Quebec English School Board Association (QESBA) said that particularly hurts English school boards.
“You have people that are leaving, not because they don’t want to support our community, but because at the end of the day it often means groceries. It means a payment toward their mortgage,” Maccarone said.
QESBA has been asking for these changes for a long time.
“(Now) you won’t have to choose between your community and your pocketbook,” Maccarone said.
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The government will also make a certain amount of property exempt from tax, which means all taxpayers will soon get a slight rebate on their school taxes.
Education Minister Sébastien Proulx said he will table a bill next week to put the new tax reforms in place.