BC schools still on the hook for health tax
Posted June 29, 2018 6:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – A call to exempt schools and other non-profit operations from BC’s new employer health tax hasn’t been answered, at least not yet.
With most students now on summer break, districts are still on the hook to cover medical premiums for all staff starting next year.
Last fall, the NDP announced it was cutting MSP in half and will eliminate them entirely by Jan. 1, 2020. As a workaround, Victoria is putting a health payroll tax in place on Jan. 1, 2019, to make up for the lost revenue.
Education Critic Dan Davies says trustees across the province are scrambling to balance budgets.
“School districts aren’t allowed to run deficits. When you’re going to be getting these huge, extra tax bills coming, that wasn’t really planned for, it certainly puts a concern on all of us where they’re going to come up with that money.”
Davies says many face massive bills once medical service premiums are replaced with the employer health tax.
“They’re going to be shattered. I would assume that the minister would have come up with some sort of a plan by now to be looking at school districts and even charities and non-profits, for that matter. It doesn’t seem like there’s any relief coming. At the end of the day, we can only see it coming out of much needed classroom resources and it’s going to be affecting the students at the end of the day.”
Education Minister Rob Fleming hasn’t been available for comment, but he has issued a statement suggesting this year’s 50 per cent MSP reduction has helped school districts collectively save $15 million.
He adds funding for K-12 education will be close to $7 billion next year.
