They say the only certainties in life are death and taxes.

In truth, there are a few more: road construction will happen every summer, Americans will never embrace soccer, and school boards will always complain they never get enough money from the provincial government.

The latter has been particularly true since 1994 when the Alberta government took away from school boards the right to levy property taxes. Previously, each school board decided their property tax rate and had to be accountable to their taxpayers for how much was taxed and how it was spent. Since the 1994 neutering, school boards have relied solely on the provincial government for funding.

This lack of a direct financial link to taxpayers has resulted in most taxpayers barely feeling the need to hold school boards accountable for the money they spend. Most taxpayers know school boards now only fulfil an administrative function, much like the civil servants who run Alberta's Child and Family Service Authorities, our court system or the Land Titles office.

Moreover, this lack of accountability has turned school board trustees into taxpayer-funded lobbyists, lobbying for more taxpayer funding. And lobby they do. Hardly a month goes by without hearing one school board trustee or another publicly complain to the province about the "urgent need" for more tax dollars.

This is even more apparent during school board trustee elections. Many candidates run solely on the platform they would be a louder and better lobbyist for more of your money than their opponent.

Voters are turned-off by this. In fact, two recent by-elections to fill trustee vacancies on the Elk Island Public School Board resulted in voter turnouts of 3.6 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively.

Yet that may change as a result of Grande Yellowhead Regional Division and Grande Prairie Public School District both enacting a rarely used provision of the School Act allowing them to ask taxpayers directly for more money through a plebiscite this October.

The Act allows for school boards to ask their residents for up to an additional 3 per cent of their operating budget for each of the next three years. It is estimated to cost a typical homeowner an extra $214 in Jasper and $104 in Grande Prairie each year.

These plebiscites create true accountability and, importantly, give taxpayers a say. Either yes - I think you have made a good case and I'm willing to give you my hard earned money, or no - I think being the highest funded school system in Canada is good enough.

A yes vote will not only give the board the dollars they seek, but also a mandate to their trustees to continue lobbying for more from the province.

A no vote will make the board live within its current means, but also tell these trustees their lobbying of the government for more tax dollars must stop.

Regardless, these plebiscites demonstrate the trustees in Grande Prairie and Grande Yellowhead are serious about their belief their school board needs more tax dollars. In fact, they are the only boards and the only trustees who have the conviction to back their complaints up with action.

As for the 60 other Alberta school boards who continue to complain, yet refuse to ask taxpayers directly for more money - your actions (or lack thereof) speak much louder than your words.