Walter Cordery, The Daily News November 10, 2009

Unless the province gives school districts across B.C. a break on the proposed Harmonized Sales Tax, they will soon need to pay an additional $24 million annually to cover the cost of items currently exempt from the provincial sales tax.

The $24 million is a figure projected by the British Columbia Association of School Business Officials, which commissioned a consultant to examine on the impact of the HST on provincial schools, said David Green, the secretary treasurer of the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district.

“His high-level analysis showed that once the HST is implemented, it will increase costs to school districts across the province,” said Green, this year’s president of the BCASBO.

The BCASBO has sent a letter to the Ministry of Education asking for a rebate.

“We are trying to make a case to the ministry that for the HST to be revenue-neutral to school districts we will require a 68% rebate,” said Green. “I’ve done a rough calculation for Nanaimo-Ladysmith and HST is going to mean an additional $250,000 to $300,000 for this district.”

It’s money the district doesn’t have.

Facing a $2.2-million shortfall for this school year, the district was forced to cut 21 teaching and support positions as well a number of programs, including funding for school meal programs, while trustees and staff members worked to balance its $122-million budget.

In June, the board of trustees submitted a “needs budget” to demonstrate to the provincial government that Nanaimo-Ladysmith would require an extra $10 million to restore the level of service for students to 2001-02 levels.

A number of school supplies the district buys are exempt from the PST, as are professional services like legal fees, said Green. Once the HST comes into play in July, the district will have to pay the 12% levy on items it currently pays no provincial tax for.

And Nanaimo-Ladysmith is better off than many other school districts that contract out more services, said Green.

“Some districts contract out their transportation to companies which provide school buses and drivers,” he said. “We don’t need to do that in Nanaimo-Ladysmith because we have our own fleet and we hire our own drivers.”

The BCASBO sent the letter to the Education Ministry at the end of last week and Green said the organization is still waiting for a response.

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