Alberta charter schools receive 100 per cent student funding ($11,601), the same as public schools. Private schools receive 70 per cent ($8,120.70) per student. Education taxes are $2.56/$1,000 for residential/farm equalized assessment value, and $3.76/$1,000 for non-residential.
A home worth $1 million pays $2,560 education tax whether they have one child or five children in school.
Every property owner pays education tax whether they have school-aged children or not. Some say tax dollars should follow their child. That would be great because it would be far less than the total tax dollars they get now.
Charter schools can’t charge tuition but can charge high fees for courses, busing, etc. Charter schools select who they want in their schools. Public schools must accept all students.
Taxes should never support a select number of students in private/charter schools to the detriment of all other Alberta students.
Dominique Wilson, Calgary
Are we subsidizing UCP voters?
City failing in duty to citizens
On Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a federal statutory holiday, all city employees were given the day off with pay even though it is not a provincial stat. Everybody else went to work.
How much did that cost the city? The city has also offered homeowners $10,000 toward the cost of finishing their basements. These are some discretionary costs the city has incurred that weren’t absolutely necessary. Instead of saving the money, we have to pay higher taxes no matter the hardship it creates for Calgarians.
There isn’t even a forum where we can express our displeasure. Courtney Walcott (Ward 8) is my city councillor and he is completely unavailable to hear our concerns. We have sent him many emails and we only ever get a response from his assistant, denying requests for meetings. He doesn’t hold any town halls or come to community events. Where do we go to talk about our concerns?
It is a great pity that we changed from having municipal elections every three years to four, because I can’t wait for the next one.
Philis Heffner, Calgary
Shelter from the storm
Re: Energy companies need stable long-term carbon market to make investments in carbon capture: panel
Canada finds itself at a turning point, one at which we can make our communities more resilient, or falter in the face of a looming storm.
Despite all the vicious negativity in our news cycles, our climate policies such as carbon pricing are quietly beginning their long, hard work. From the time it was first introduced, our emissions have dropped. Businesses and industries see a path forward, which encourages clean energy and a bigger piece of the growing renewable pie, but they are missing one thing: certainty.
Not only does the dangerous anti-carbon tax rhetoric let all Canadians down by selling away our future, but it fails businesses by punishing those who have already taken steps to change and by scaring away all those who might have joined them.
The truth is, if you take an axe to everything, eventually there’s no shelter left.
Mark Taylor, Calgary