School tax hike to support new infrastructure: Hunter

By Trevor Busch
Sunny South News
editor@tabertimes.com

Alberta is increasing the provincial education property tax requisition to $3.6 billion for the 2026-27 fiscal year, a significant rise from $3.1 billion in 2025-26.

The province says the increase is primarily being driven by growing student enrolment and corresponding infrastructure needs. Municipalities collect the tax, but the province sets the rates, which sometimes results in misdirected criticism levelled at municipalities by taxpayers

“It’s really the cost coming from building more schools, which Albertans have said, en masse, you need to build more schools,” said Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter. “So there’s a price tag to that, we have to hire more teachers, more teacher’s assistants. And there’s a cost to that. And so that’s why that increase has happened there.”

The 2026-27 fiscal year marks the second consecutive year of double-digit hikes. 

The education tax appears on the same bill as local municipal property taxes, with payments typically due in May.