Resolutions

Therefore be it resolved that SUMA lobby the Provincial Government to adequately and fairly compensate the affected municipalities to recover their costs for the collection, enforcement and remittance of these taxes.

Response: • The benefits of property taxes go directly to the municipalities and school divisions. Therefore it is appropriate that local governments should be responsible for local administration costs. • Currently, municipalities are responsible for collecting property taxes on behalf of both themselves and school divisions. This system prevents unnecessary duplication of administration by the two local government structures. Also, over time, municipalities have developed expertise in tax collection which school divisions do not presently have. • If compensation were provided for costs, it would come from school divisions. This would more than likely cause an increase in school taxes to ratepayers to cover the cost. Increasing the property tax burden on ratepayers would not be looked upon favourably, unless there was a parallel decrease in municipal taxes. • Another alternative could be to require school divisions to levy and collect school property taxes. However, this would not necessarily be more efficient or economical for local taxpayers unless they also collect municipal taxes.