As the Progressive Conservative leadership campaign rolls along, it's to be expected tax policy ideas are being floated - some good, some not so good.

Under the good category, Dr. Lyle Oberg's pitch to eliminate the regressive health care premium tax. Under the not so good category, Jim Dinning's (now smartly rescinded) five per cent tax rate for people under the age of 30.

Most recently, talk has moved to the education portion of property taxes taken by the province. This tax, collected on behalf of the province by municipalities, makes up about 38 per cent of your total property tax bill, and brings roughly $1.3-billion each year into provincial coffers.

Dr. Lyle Oberg recently announced that he would give 75 per cent of all money collected through the education property tax to Alberta municipalities, and the remaining 25 per cent to school boards.

This is one of those not so good ideas.

Giving municipalities an extra billion dollars a year to spend, without them having to be responsible for how it's spent is foolish. It encourages more spending instead of smarter spending. It encourages municipalities to be less responsible to their local ratepayers rather than more. And it wouldn't even give taxpayers a chance to get their own money back.

Tory leadership hopeful Mark Norris' suggestion to phase out the education property tax over the next five years has the potential to be a good idea. A good idea if the proposal is backed up with a law that protects local ratepayers.

The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, and the big city mayors have all been pushing for the province to eliminate the education portion of property taxes, but not because they want you to have a fatter wallet.

In fact, their head cheerleader, Calgary mayor Dave Bronconnier, has been very upfront about it. He's hoping the province eliminates the provincial side of property taxes so the city can increase the municipal side by the same amount. Unsuspecting homeowners see their total bill stay the same, while the city gets to stuff their coffers.

Mayor Bronconnier has already put his plan into action. Back in May the province lowered the education property tax, creating a $25.7-million tax cut for Calgarians. City council acted quickly, increasing municipal taxes to ensure not one cent of that tax cut went back into the pockets of Calgarians.

A complete phase-out of the tax as Norris proposes would free-up $1.3-billion - that's nearly $1,600 a year for the average family of four.

So, is it possible taxpayers could enjoy these savings absent the meddling hands of local politicians In a word: yes!

Municipalities need to be limited as to how much they can increase your taxes each year. Wild swings in property values and local politicians more interested in handing out yo-yo's than filling pot holes and lighting streets often increase property taxes far above the inflation rate. In fact, Calgary's municipal property taxes increased by nearly ten per cent this past year, well above Calgary's four percent inflation rate.

Simply put: municipal tax increases should be limited to the rate of inflation. If a municipality wants to increase your local taxes beyond that, ratepayers should have the final say. A referendum should be held before any tax increase larger than the inflation rate goes through.

Without a municipal tax cap in place, Norris' plan becomes a bust. But with it, his plan becomes a winner.