APAS rejects “Saskatchewan Growth Coalition” municipal tax proposal

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) is calling on the province to reject proposals by the “Saskatchewan Growth Coalition,” which calls for lower rural municipal tax rates for resource and processing industries.

“It’s a simple calculation, and agricultural ratepayers will have to make up the difference for any reductions for other sectors,” APAS President Todd Lewis said. “Farmers and ranchers built our essential rural infrastructure over the decades, and we are now at risk of subsidizing other users that want to take advantage of our investment.”

The “Saskatchewan Growth Coalition” has released its platform calling for the Government of Saskatchewan to change the mill rate from .75 to 2.0 on all property classes. This proposal is a significant change in how taxes are distributed across different property classes in rural Saskatchewan and would result in agricultural property taxes more than doubling in some areas of the province.

“This group is saying this change will make the mill rate fairer for the natural resource, manufacturing and construction sectors, but its message is completely overlooking the fact that agricultural producers will be the ones to pick up the bill,” Lewis said. “It is important that our public infrastructure is maintained and expanded without imposing undue costs on family farm businesses.”