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PoliticsMunicipal11TuesdayApril292014RMofWoodBuffaloprotestseducationtaxhikeResidentsfacing87percenttaxincreasefrom2012ByMARIACHURCHTheRegionalMunicipalityofWoodBuffaloRMWBisaskingtheAlbertagovern-menttoreconsiderchangestoeducationtaxesthatwillseeanincreaseofalmost18percentfromlastyearshoul-deredonWoodBuffaloresi-dentsandbusinesses.Onbehalfofthemunici-palcouncilMayorMelissaBlakesentaletterofprotesttoAlbertasMinisterofEdu-cationJeffJohnsondetail-ingthecouncilsobjectiontothehikeintaxeswhichwillhittheresidentialcategoryhardestwithaveragesinglefamilyhomeownerspayingnearly750moreinpropertyeducationtaxfromratesin2012-anaverageincreaseof87percent.ThejumpintaxrequisitionforWoodBuffaloistheresultoftheprovincesdecisiontoremovethecaponmarket-basedassessmentwhichwasdesignedtobuffercommu-nitieswherepropertyvaluesarerapidlyincreasing.Thatdecisionwasmadein2013withaplantophaseitinovertwoyears.Itwasdroppedonuslastyearwithoutanyforewarn-ingtobequitehonestwithyou.Lastyearwesawaverysignicantincreaseinrequisi-tionfromtheprovince.TheyannounceditintheirbudgetlastyearandbasicallysentoutthebillthenextdayBrianMooredirectoroftaxassessmentforRMWBsaidinaninterviewlastweek.Mooresaidresidentsintheboomingoilsandsmunicipalitywillnowpaythehighested-ucationtaxesintheprovincewithnoincreaseineducationspendingintheregion.AccordingtoBlaketheWoodBuffaloregionhasbeenstrugglingwithalackofeducationandinfrastruc-turedollarsforyearsunabletokeepupwithaburgeon-ingpopulationquicklyrisingfromtheoodofemploymentopportunitieswithoilsandsandservicingcompanies.Whenwecorrelatewhatthisregioncontributesintermsoftheirnewratesontheeducationperproportionthatwesendtotheprovincewedonotseethatreturninginthesameproportionbacktotheregioneventhoughoureducationsystemscer-tainlystrugglewiththeirbudgetsespeciallybeinginthelocationthatweareandhavingincreasingstu-dentpopulation.Itsabitofdoublewhammyshesaid.AccordingtoMooretheprovinceisnowcollect-ingmorerevenuethaneverfromRMWBandputtingittowardseducationspendinginmajorcitieslikeCalgaryandEdmonton.Takingthisrevenueoutofthisregionandactuallyinvestingitinmunicipali-tiessouthofheredoesnotmakesenseparticularlywhentheentireprovincialeconomydependsuponthesuccessofthismunicipal-ityhesaid.FortMcMurrayisalreadyanexpensiveplacetolivesowhenyoustartaddinginadditionalhousingcostslikethiswithoutanyforewarningtothetaxpayersitmakestheownershipofhousingmuchmoredifcultMooresaid.GregWeadickactingmin-isterofMunicipalAffairs-thedepartmentinchargeofprovincialtaxcollec-tion-toldTheJournalthecapremovalhasbroughtallAlbertapropertiestoafairmarketvaluesothatno-bodywassubsidizingsome-oneelse.WoodBuffaloisoneoffourmunicipalitiesinAl-bertahithardestbythecapremovalbecauseofhigherthanaveragehomevaluesalongwithChestermereBanffandWaterton.WeadicksaidWoodBuf-falohasthehighesteduca-tioncostsintheprovincearound30percenthigherthaninEdmontonandCal-garyandwillnowbepay-inganequalmarketshareintotheprovincialeduca-tionbudget.WoodBuffalolashesoutTheRMWBprotestlet-tersentonApr.11wastheresultofamunicipalcouncilmeetingresolutiontoprotestthetaxhikeinearlyAprilwhichpassedunanimously.Theletteraccusesthepro-vincialgovernmentofavoid-ingseriousdiscussionswithlocalschoolboardsabouttheneedfornewschoolstomeetagrowingdemandonthecurrenteducationalservices.TheletterrequeststheAl-bertagovernmentextendthetwo-yearphase-inofthetaxcapremoval.ItalsorequestsameetingwithJohnsonaswellastheregionalMLAsDonScottandMikeAllentohearthemunicipalitysconcerns.Blakesaidthecouncilre-ceivedanalmostimmediateresponsefromtheeducationministeragreeingtoameet-ingbutshesnotgettingherhopesup.Thewillingnesstomeetdoesntnecessarilymeanthingsaregoingtochangeinthesituationitsjustthatifweareabletoadvocateforourregionthenwearecertainlypleasedtobeabletodothat.Weadicksaidhisdepart-mentalongwiththedepart-mentofEducationisfullyintendingtomeetwiththeRMWBcounciltodiscusstheirconcerns.Wedontwanttoseethemadverselyaffected.Wewanttomakessurethetaxationisfairsothatanyonewithahighhomevaluedoesalsopayafairsharecomparedtoanyoneelsehesaid.PhotocourtesyofRMWBRegionalMunicipalityofWoodBuffaloMayorMelissaBlakesaystheeducationtaxhikemustbematchedbyamuch-neededincreaseineducationfundingfromtheprovince.