Education Property Taxes: Should they be maintained or eliminated? (Part 1)

The City of Lethbridge believes that Education Property Taxes should be eliminated. City Council adopted this position at a public meeting on October 31, 2005 although there had been no prior public consultation. Mayor Tarleck outlined his views on the subject in his column in the Lethbridge Herald of November 18, 2005. City Council has passed a resolution urging the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association to pressure the Alberta government to eliminate the tax. But not everyone believes the education property tax should be eliminated. School boards believe that education needs a stable source of funding. They also believe that local taxation supports local accountability for the quality of our education systems. Chris Spearman believes that education property taxes should be maintained. He also believes that the whole issue needs greater public consultation and discussion. Speaker: Chris Spearman Chris Spearman and his family have lived in Lethbridge for 25 years. He served for 13 years on the Catholic school board, first with Lethbridge Catholic, and since 1995 with the Holy Spirit School Division, including two terms as chairman. He has been involved with the Industrial Association of Southern Alberta since 1983 and has been the chairman for the last 6 years. Together with Lethbridge businessman, John Davis, Chris spoke out about the pitfalls of electrical deregulation prior to its implementation in 2001. Chris Spearman has also served as the spokesman for the Action Against High Gas Prices group when local gasoline prices in Lethbridge consistently exceeded prices in other communities.