What a mess! What a big stinking mess!

We're talking, of course, about education property taxes in Alberta. The way we collect and distribute property taxes for the purposes of education in this province is almost beyond comprehension. It is a system that is riddled with complexity, inequity, unpredictability and political-infighting.

The real trouble began back in 1994 when the province decided to cut municipalities out of property tax revenues collected for education. The province, and not the municipalities, now redistributes these revenues back to local school boards. The idea behind the scheme was noble enough - to make sure that all our kids have the same educational opportunities regardless of where they live in Alberta. The amount of property taxes paid by local taxpayers and businesses and the revenues available to each separate community was to be made more equitable. Sounds good so far, but then came market value assessment (MVA).

The introduction of MVA (where taxes are based on the market value of one's property) has led to a situation where some taxpayers are paying more than their fair share in education property taxes, especially in rapid growth areas. People on fixed incomes (mostly seniors) also get caught in the crossfire where their ability to pay is not linked to the value of their property.

But MVA isn't the only problem. Inequity also occurs because of a hodge-podge of jurisdictional authority. Local school boards, for example, negotiate different contracts leading to different salaries, different student-teacher ratios, etc. So we're back at square one. The system still creates inequity in both the quality of education and tax levels throughout the province.

If all this is making your head spin, you're not alone. The provincial government is as confused as the rest of us. That's why they've set up a MLA committee to look at how to fix the problem. This week the committee suggested, and the government accepted, freezing the amount of property taxes taken in by the province. A welcome move - but really just a stopgap measure. It does little or nothing to address the underlying problems of complexity and inequality in the system.

So what's the solution Well, it's as simple as the problem is complicated - eliminate the provincial education property tax altogether. That's right, abolish the tax and give Albertans the long deserved tax cut they've been waiting for.

Education would then be paid for strictly out of general revenues, eliminating all the complications inherent in the current system. Why the provincial government is in the business of raising property taxes in the first place is a complete mystery. Such a tax cut would amount to about $1.3 billion or less than 8% of total government revenues - perfectly affordable given healthy budget surpluses and a natural growth in revenues.

Simplicity, equity, and a tax cut. Who could argue with that The only thing left to do would be to enact tax and expenditure limit legislation to ensure that the municipalities couldn't simply increase their property taxes to offset the tax cut. Such a simple solution for such a big mess.