City issues warning to homeowners about looming change to school tax on TIPP bills

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This article was published 12/12/2024 (632 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City hall is warning homeowners about imminent increases to their monthly property tax payments in an attempt to ease sticker shock in the new year.

Residents enrolled in the Tax Instalment Payment Plan should expect to pay 50 per cent more, on average, between January and December, according to a news release issued Thursday.

The release indicated the hikes reflect the provincial government’s latest change to a school tax rebate program that has taken many forms since it was introduced in 2021.

“Because of the Canada Post work stoppage, property owners enrolled in TIPP may not receive a letter outlining the changes to their payments before the automatic withdrawal occurs on Jan. 1, 2025,” the notice said.

While noting city staffers are often the ones fielding calls about fee changes, even when they are out of the municipality’s control, Mayor Scott Gillingham told reporters the city wanted to be proactive.

“There have been several changes over the last few years when it comes to education taxes, so today’s notification to all residents is, ‘Please be aware, if you’re on… the TIPP payment program, there will be changes coming,’” Gillingham told reporters Thursday.

“It’s not the City of Winnipeg municipal taxes. It is education-related taxes for the Province of Manitoba.”

In addition to collecting municipal property taxes, the city is responsible for gathering public dollars on behalf of the province to fund metro school divisions.

During the 2023-2024 school year, Manitoba public schools received roughly 36 per cent of their total operating funding via property education taxes.

Under former premier Brian Pallister, the Progressive Conservatives froze the fees set by elected school boards and pledged to begin gradually phasing them out in 2021 as part of a larger project to reform school financing.

Property owners were sent rebate cheques in the mail that year, each of which totalled 25 per cent of their local board’s special levy. The rebate grew to 37.5 per cent in 2022 and 50 per cent in 2023.

Following the 2023 election, the NDP government began applying the 50 per cent tax cuts directly onto municipal property tax bills. Premier Wab Kinew also restored school boards’ abilities to raise revenue via property tax hikes.

Kinew has since replaced the school tax rebate program with a new $1,500 “homeowners affordability tax credit” strictly for residential property owners. The flat-rate credit will be applied directly to property bills throughout 2025.

The premier has said 83 per cent of homeowners will pay less under the new system unveiled in Budget 2024 — a blueprint that shows the province is banking on $148 million extra in revenue because of the changes.

Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan), who oversees the city’s standing policy committee on finance, urged residents to compare their TIPP payments from January 2024 and January 2025.

TIPP payments dropped in July because the 50 per cent rebate was only applied to bills throughout the latter half of this year, Browaty said.

“Most people didn’t really notice when the amount went down (in July) and they certainly didn’t complain,” he added.

Browaty noted that a spike in January bills is likely “a one-off timing issue” as a result of the latest of a series of changes to the property education tax in recent years.

Property owners can sign into the city’s residential property portal or contact 311 and provide their property roll number, address details and the amount listed on their last TIPP payment to access information about their payments.

– With files from Joyanne Pursaga

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.