Brandon School Division proposes to hike education property taxes by almost 3%

The Brandon School Division is joining other Manitoba school boards moving toward raising property taxes for the coming school year.

The division would be increasing education property taxes by 2.96 per cent, according to a draft of the 2024-25 school budget unveiled Thursday. That would amount to a net annual increase of $25.36 on an average single family home valued at $281,000, the division said.

Earlier this month, the provincial NDP announced earlier it was letting school divisions raise property taxes, ending the multi-year freeze put in place by the former Progressive Conservative government.

About a week ago, the Winnipeg School Division and the Pembina Trails School Division, proposed 3.4 per cent and three per cent hikes on property taxes, respectively. Both school boards cited the need to keep up with rising costs as one of the reasons behind the increases.

The Brandon School Division's draft includes four per cent increases in its capital, maintenance and instructional supplies budgets to match inflation.

It projects a total of 9,804 students for the 2024-25 school year — an increase of 112 students — as well as 23.38 new full-time-equivalent teaching positions and 11.48 new FTE support staff roles. There's also money set aside to make division schools more accessible, to replace their paging systems, and for the maintenance of aging facilities.

The division's 2.96 per cent hike would be on top of the 9.4 per cent increase Brandon city council approved for its own property tax earlier this year.

Mayor Jeff Fawcett said then that while the increase was a hard pill to swallow for residents, it was necessary to stabilize the city's finances.

The school division is holding consultations on the draft budget on March 4, with the final approval slated for March 11.