Farmland assessments are up, which means in some cases, taxes for farmers are up, too.
In some areas of the province, municipal and school taxes on farmland have gone up significantly because of the substantial increases in farmland assessments. Certain municipalities have seen almost 50 per cent increases in farmland assessment this year, meaning even a small percentage change in municipal or school tax rates could result in a large dollar amount needing to be paid.
For example, in the Garden Valley School Division in Winkler, the school tax on farmland this year is expected to increase by about $1,000 per quarter section, despite the fact the division actually lowered its mil rate slightly for the next school year.
While the province of Manitoba currently offers a rebate on farmland school taxes, the maximum is $5,000 per taxpayer.
Keystone Agricultural Producers president Dan Mazier say his organization has been working for quite a while to have school taxes removed from farmland completely because they feel it doesn't charge the farmer fairly.
"The way the tax works now, is it has nothing to do with what you're producing or what you're able to pay, it's all based off, basically, the assessment value or the value of your property," Mazier explains, using crop failure situations, like floods in 2011 and 2014, as an example for why this system doesn't work.
Source : Portageonline