Two steps backward for education tax fairness

• Two pieces of news delivered via the recent provincial budget make it clear to farmers that the Province is watering down its education tax rebate program on farmland - and its promise to completely eliminate, through rebates, the long-disputed education tax on farmland. The first piece of disappointing news is that the rebate remains once again at 80 per cent - even though farmers were promised in the 2011 election that the rebate would go right up to 100 per cent in order to make the education tax system fair. The other disappointment is that the rebate has been capped at $5,000, a blatant discrimination against producers with a larger land base. We ask the Manitoba government to reverse the changes to the rebate program for farmland immediately, and make plans for the next budget that will see it live up to its promise of removing education tax completely from farmland. READ COMMENTARY >