Hold line on tax increases or face administration cut, Manitoba education minister warns school divisions

Manitoba Education Minister Kelvin Goertzenhasthreatened to force any school divisions that raise taxes too high to cut back on administrative positions.

Goertzen said Tuesday the province has the regulatory authority to lower the cap on the amount of money school divisions can spend on administration, which would force school divisions to find efficiencies.

He didn't mention the Winnipeg School Division by name, but he nevertheless clearly suggested itmay be the only division to receive thatdirective.

"We've always said we want to protect taxpayers. We've encouraged school divisions to do that. The vast majority, if not all of them except for one, I think, willdo that," Goertzensaid Tuesdayfollowing apre-budget news conference at a Vita Health inWinnipeg.

While the province has asked all school divisions to hold the line on property taxes and said property tax increasescannot exceed two per cent,the Winnipeg School Division hascontemplated a property tax increase of2.9 per centfor the next school year as a means of filling a hole in provincial funding.

No one should be surprised,Goertzensaid, to see "a differential rate between those who are being responsible for theratepayersand those who aren't."

WSD 'basically handcuffed': finance chair

WSD finance chair Lisa Naylorsaid thedivision was warned last week it would have to cut administrative costs to 2.4 per cent of its total budget from 2.7 per cent if it went ahead with the proposed tax hike.

She believes the board has no choice but to follow the province's wishes and keep property taxes belowtwo per cent.The board will pass its budget on Monday.

"We feel the minister has basically handcuffed us," Naylor said.

If the division goes ahead with a tax increase over two per cent, she said, "they're going to claw back far more than that from our administrative budget. They're making it impossible for us to do anything but what the minister wants."

She's disappointed the province institutedthis "punishment" so late in thebudgetary process, following fiveconsultation sessions where Naylor saysWinnipeggersindicated they wantmore investment in public education.

"Weunderstand now as a board that we're not going to be able to address those issues of accessibility and accountability that we had intended to address," she said.

Goertzenhas previously asked divisions to continue toreduce administrative costs, as the province continues its efforts toslash the province's deficit.

Administration seems bloated: Goertzen

He also chastised the Winnipeg School Division on Tuesday for the size of its bureaucracy somethinghe has previously done on Twitter.

"There are divisions that have 197 people making more than $100,000. I think that there is room to find those savings and make sure the taxpayers are protected," said Goertzen.

Naylor said the province is falsely communicating the idea the school division is being reckless with the public purse.

"That's very disturbing to us, when we see what's really a crisis in public education."

Before Tuesday's news conference, Finance Minister Scott Fielding told reporters the province's push for fiscal restraint will continue in the release of the provincial budget on Thursday.

"There's a recognition ... that we were left with a heck of a mess, and we're cleaning it up and we're doing things to sustain services for a long period of time," Fielding said.

He declined to say if a targetdate for a promised provincial sales tax cutwould be announced along with this week's budget.

Fielding did, however, have a gift for one ManitobanTuesday.

ThePallister governmentcontinued its twist on the "new shoes" budget day traditionwhich normally sees a finance minister buy new footwear ahead of delivering a budget.

Fielding instead presenteda new pair ofkicks to Kris Enns, a Special Olympian andlongtime employee at Vita Health on Corydon Avenue.

"We like people that are getting things done and that sounds like exactly what you're doing," Fielding told Enns.