EDMONTON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today responded to the Alberta government's decision to continue requiring school boards to seek taxpayer approval in a referendum for any property tax increases.

In a 226-page report released this past October, the Learning Commission recommended to the Alberta government that the School Act be changed to allow school boards to raise property taxes without taxpayer approval.

Since the release of the Learning Commission's report, the CTF has been urging the government to reject this recommendation, and to keep the referendum requirement in place.

"The onus should always be on politicians - not taxpayers - to have to explain and justify proposed tax increases," stated CTF-Alberta director John Carpay.

"Scrapping the referendum requirement would shift the onus to taxpayers to justify why they want to keep their own earnings," added Carpay.

"Albertans are fortunate to have taxpayer protection legislation in place at the school board level. The CTF will continue pushing for this legislation municipally, provincially, and federally," concluded Carpay.