CAQ proposes school tax cuts

With the Liberals and the CAQ neck and neck in the latest poll, the race to next fall’s election is heating up. A new Mainstreet poll places the CAQ at 32 per cent and the Liberals at 31 per cent. Now the two parties are also focusing on the same issues.

The Liberals already promised school tax reforms before Christmas, but the CAQ says Quebecers are still paying too much. At a caucus retreat at a historic skiing lodge in Saint-Adele, the CAQ said the Liberal plan to normalize school taxes is botched and that their own proposed tax cuts will fix the unfairness.

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“I think, again, they will copy our proposal because their proposal doesn’t make sense,” said CAQ Leader François Legault.

Under the CAQ plan, all homeowners would pay 10.5 cents per $100 of the value of their property, the current tax rate in the Laurentians, the lowest school tax rate in the province. The Liberal government introduced a bill in December that would force all school boards to charge the same tax rate in each of the 17 administrative regions in Quebec, but the rates still vary from region to region.

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For instance, the average Montrealer living in a single-family home pays $800 a year in school taxes, while the average homeowner in Quebec City pays only $316. The tax rate for Montrealers is 40 per cent higher than for people living in the provincial capital.

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The rates are based on a percentage set by the school boards. The CAQ has already said they want to get rid of school boards. They say under the current funding model, taxpayers are penalized because of where they live.

The CAQ said its school tax plan will cost $700 million, and they will present an economic plan in a couple of months.