Regina: The first of three new studies of Saskatchewan's property taxes by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) shows that the property tax burden has been increasing faster than inflation everywhere in the province over the past 15 years, and has increased much faster in rural areas since 1992 under the NDP government.

Property taxes rose in urban areas by 5.8% per year before 1992 and 2.2% per year after 1992. Property taxes in rural areas rose by 3.9% per year before 1992 and 5.9% per year after 1992.

"Both rural and urban taxpayers are paying more, but when the NDP was elected there was a dramatic shift in the rate of increase from urban to rural areas," says CTF Saskatchewan Director Richard Truscott.

Truscott blames provincial government off-loading. "The real shift is not from urban to rural taxpayers. The real shift is in the political burden from provincial politicians to municipal governments. The provincial government gets to balance its budget and reduce taxes while municipal governments are forced to deal with the costs of off-loading by raising taxes," says Truscott.

"Rural municipalities and rural taxpayers are especially vulnerable to off-loading and rising property taxes because of the agricultural crisis," says Truscott. The CTF director believes that Saskatchewan is too dependent on property taxes to fund schools. "School taxes have been driving the property tax increases. In rural areas, school taxes rose 116% between 1985 and 2000."

Saskatchewan has the highest property taxes in Canada, and school tax burden on property owners is more than twice as heavy as the rest of the country. Property taxes fund 59% of education costs in Saskatchewan, compared to the national average of 26% for the other provinces. Other provinces use general revenues to pay more of the education bill.

"Property taxes are not equitable because they are not based on ability to pay. They are an unreasonable burden on struggling farmers and home-owning seniors on fixed-incomes. Other provinces have found fairer and more sensible ways to pay for schools and Saskatchewan should follow their lead," says Truscott.