Owners of pricey properties pocketed big bucks from tax cuts promised to help low-income Manitobans - Action News
Home WebMail Sunday, November 10, 2024, 11:59 PM | Calgary | 0.4°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
ManitobaCBC Investigates

Owners of pricey properties pocketed big bucks from tax cuts promised to help low-income Manitobans

Manitobas new education tax rebate was touted as a way to bring relief to working people, seniors and lower-income families, but a CBC analysis found that owners of Winnipeg's most expensive properties reaped the most benefit to the tune of millions in rebates.

Largest cheque for Winnipeg home or condo was more than $6K, smallest was $8

An aerial view of homes on a Winnipeg street.
These homes on Wellington Crescent received some of the largest education property tax rebate cheques for dwellings in Winnipeg, including one for $4,594 and another for $3,770. (CBC)

Manitoba's new education tax rebate was touted as a way to bring relief to working people, seniors and lower-income families, but a CBC analysis found that owners of Winnipeg's most expensive properties reaped the most benefit to the tune of millions in rebates.

The Progressive Conservative government's plan to reform school financing put a 25 per cent education tax rebate cheque into every homeowner's pocket last year.

But the dollar amounts of those cheques for single dwellings and condominiums varied widely from $8 for a tiny condo in Winnipeg's St. John's neighbourhood to $6,023 for a Tuxedo property according to data obtained through access to information.

"Every dollar that is going to someone who owns a gigantic high-valued house is a dollar that we don't have to improve our health-care system, to improve our schools, and help our economy here in Manitoba grow in an equitable way," said University of Manitoba economist Jesse Hajer.

Theeducation tax rebate programwas unveiled on April 1, 2021, by thenpremier Brian Pallister, who had madeit a campaign promise.

Thegoal of the plan, which cost nearly $250 million when the province was in deficit, was to put money "back into the hands of the people who work so hard to get money in the first place, seniors living on fixed incomes families struggling to make ends meet, small businesses, as well, that were victimized with more red tape and higher taxes," Pallister said.

"It's a fabrication to maintain that as putting more money into the pockets of Manitobans," said University of Manitoba economist Gregory Mason.

A CBC analysis of Winnipeg properties shows the top 10 per cent of education tax rebate recipients pocketed four times more cash than the bottom 10 per cent.

The top tier was rebated $17,750,239, which represents 18.5 per cent of total for homes and condos. The bottom tier got $4,310,223, or 4.5 per cent of the total.

(CBC)

Homeowners are not the only ones who got a rebate cheque. Commercial properties received a 10 per cent rebate last year and will get the same percentage this year.

Polo Park shopping centrereceived the largest cheque overall, totalling more than $1 million.

Other well-known Winnipeg buildings topped the list, including the three skyscrapers at Portage and Main.


This analysis is limited to Winnipeg properties and does not reflect rebates provincewide.

Hajer says he is not surprised owners of higher-priced properties got a larger chunk of the cash the government borrowed for the rebates.

"It's completely consistent with the way that tax cuts work. Those at the top are going to get a larger share than those in the middle and at the bottom," he said.

(CBC)

Hajer says some people are doing very well right now and do not need the extra money, while others are struggling to feed their families.

The top rebate cheque recipient, who got slightly over $6,000 for a 9,860-square-footTuxedo home, declined an interview.

Olivia Klaric lives in a 672-square-foothome in Point Douglas on a street where most of the houses fall into the bottom 10 per cent of tax rebates.

"Most low-income people realize that they're always going to get the shaft from the government," Klaric said.

"Fairness went out the door on this little project of theirs."

She questions the wisdom of offering the rebates when the province needed to borrow the money to do it.

"It doesn't make sense when some people got $1,000 or up. And I know I got, I think, a hundred," said Klaric, who got $111.56 to be exact.

Olivia Klaric has lived in Point Douglas for nearly her whole life because she loves the community. She got a $111.56 education tax rebate cheque in the mail. (Fernand Detillieux/CBC)

Sheila Engel lives a few doors down from Klaric and received a $228 cheque. She's happy to paytaxes because she appreciates the services the government provides.

"I wouldn't expect them to give back more tax dollars to people that didn't pay the same equivalent taxes," said Engel.

The average rebate for a Winnipeg homeowner was about $458 in 2021.

The next round of rebate cheques will be higher since the Stefanson government announced it has bumped the rebate up from 25 per cent to 37.5 per cent and 50 per cent will be rebated in 2023. There are no caps on the amount that is rebated.

The educationproperty tax rebate is based on the gross school division taxes owing for each property owner, and is calculated before the educationproperty tax credit is applied

Before the education property tax rebate was introduced in 2021, there were tax breaksfor seniors and farmers, which remain to this day. In 2021, the seniors education property tax credit was capped at$300 with income-basedclawbacks,and the farmland school tax rebate had a cap of $3,750.

Tax cuts less transparent

Hajer, who also writes for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, says even though everyone got the same 25 per cent rebate, it can result in unequal outcomes.

"There are some people who are doing very well right now, who do not need the extra money from any objective criteria. And there are those who are struggling, who were more severely impacted by the pandemic," said Hajer.

Those with lower incomes are more likely to spend the tax rebate, which stimulates the local economy, he said, but whentaxes are cut for the wealthy, they generally end up sitting on that money.

Hajer says tax cuts are less transparent than benefit programs because it obscures the fact thatwealthier households are getting much more cash than those in the middle and lower classes.

He says with benefit programs,the amount a person qualifies for is usually very clear, and the maximum amount is public.

Owners of valuable properties like these on Wellington Crescent got a bigger chunk of the cash allocated for education tax rebates than people with lower-priced dwellings. The top 10 per cent of rebate recipients received four times as much as the bottom 10 per cent, even though everyone got a 25 per cent rebate. (CBC )

University of Calgary economist Jack Mintz, who has been published by the Fraser Institute, says because very low-income earners may pay a bigger portion of their income in taxes than the very wealthy, the rebate actually might give them more relief in terms of disposable income.

But Mintz says if you really want to improve the economy, it's better to cut the land transfer tax or reduce personal income taxes than to cut the property tax.

"There are some taxes that have a very negative impact on growth, such as corporate income taxes, land transfer taxes and personal taxes," said Mintz.

He says cutting property taxes is a lesser priority, but acknowledgeshe is looking at it "strictly from an economic point of view rather than looking at it from a political point of view."

Like a shell game: economist

University of Manitoba economist Gregory Mason characterizes the rebate cheques as a way to make the electorate feel good.

"That's really what the government is buying with the money, is that little bit of gratitude on the part of people," said Mason.

The rebates are part of a multi-year plan to transfer education funding away from property taxes to general revenuea goal Mason agrees with.

"I really wouldn't get too kind of concerned about the fact that some people got a big cheque back because they paid a big amount of money," said Mason.

He says things are getting cut or there's less revenue in other parts of the system.

"It's a shell game. They're moving money around and there's less money left over to do something else."

Mason is concerned taxation in Canada is far too complicated and any attempts to limit the rebate for wealthy homeowners, or increase the rebate for less-valuable homes, would add complexity to an unnecessarily complex system.

'A very poor use of money': Hajer

As for borrowing money to cover the rebates, Hajer says government needs to think about whether paying interest is worth it.

Borrowing money for education and health-care has high economic payoffs, he said.

"Is it worth borrowing money so that we can give money away to those who aren't struggling, to those who are already doing quite well? I would suggest that's a very poor use of money."

Back in Point Douglas, Olivia Klaric has a similar take on borrowing money to give out rebates.

Olivia Klaric's 672-square-foot home in Point Douglas is among the 10 per cent of properties that received the lowest education tax rebate cheques. She says she doesn't agree with borrowing money to give out the rebates. (CBC )

"I think they could have put a stop to it, but they didn't because they were trying to keep a promise that wasn't a very good promise to the people of Winnipeg or to the people in Manitoba."

Finance Minister Cameron Friesen was not available for an interview but did send a written statement that did not respond to the CBC analysis of the rebates.

"Affordability is a major priority of our government," wrote the minister, saying the education property tax rebates in the 2022 budget"are helping make life more affordable for Manitobans."

Friesen also would not say how the funds spent on rebates will be replaced in the province's coffers, but did say that rebates will be funded under general revenue, not through additional borrowing.

Owners of pricey properties pocketed big bucks from tax cuts promised to help low-income Manitobans

2 years ago
Duration 3:08
Manitoba's new education tax rebate was touted as a way to bring relief to working people, seniors and lower-income families, but a CBC analysis found that owners of Winnipeg's most expensive properties reaped the most benefit to the tune of millions in rebates.

Corrections

  • A previous version of this story contained a map that included properties that were not homes and condos. The map has been updated to exclude extraneous properties such as parks and some commercial properties.
    May 13, 2022 3:10 PM CT