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By Alessia Proietti

$35,000 increase in one year

Chinook’s Edge School Division raises concerns of rising carbon tax costs

Jan 23, 2023 | 9:21 AM

The Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD) Board of Directors have sounded the alarm on the rising costs of the carbon tax on their facilities.

According to Associate Superintendent of Corporate Services Shawn Russell, in the 2021/22 school year, the district budgeted $520,000 for utilities. However, the actual costs ended up being $800,000.

“Part of that was the increase in actual fuel costs and inflation that happened,” he said. “But there was also carbon pricing that kicked in last year.”

In 2019, the federal government introduced a price on carbon pollution, starting at $20 per tonne, increasing to $50 per tonne in 2022. For gasoline, the carbon tax is included in the pump price, adding roughly three cents per litre as of April 2022.

READ: Kenney urges Ottawa to cancel planned federal carbon tax increase in April

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In 2016, the former Alberta NDP government introduced a provincial carbon tax. In 2019, UCP Premier Jason Kenney removed the provincial carbon tax once in power; however, the federal government at the time directed all provinces to add a carbon tax or Ottawa would impose a federal one.

Within the CESD’s utility costs last year, supplying energy for their 42 schools, and facilities and division offices, Russell says $140,000 was due to the carbon tax, an increase of roughly $35,000 from the previous school year’s cost of $105,000.

Russell shared that in 2022, the price per gigajoule (GJ) was $2.63, increasing to $3.26 per GJ in 2023 and is anticipated to rise to $6.33 per GJ in 2027.

“Our biggest concern is that our current funding that we receive to operate our facilities will not be sufficient; we’ll be running a deficit and we can’t run deficits so we’ll have to look at ways that we could reduce costs. The facilities budget line has been hit over the years with a number of budget implications and there’s really no room that we can really trim that amount of savings within that budget,” he said.

“How are we going to continue to operate and maintain our buildings to the level they need to be maintained to?”

For transportation, Russell confirmed the CESD has a fleet of 100 school buses. While some bus routes are contracted in the north and Sylvan Lake areas, the fuel costs for their fleet and other vehicles costed the district $122,000 in the last school year and $91,000 the year prior.

“No real change in the amount of kilometers we’re using those for; it’s just the cost of fuel that has gone up. There’s carbon tax built into the cost of fuel but there’s other inflationary pressures that cause that to go up as well,” he said.

He says the Government of Alberta has helped schools with their fuel costs, based on a calculation of average kilometres driven, at $1.25 per diesel litre. He says the rebate fluctuates with fuel prices.

READ: Fuel cost relief for school authorities

Other central Alberta school districts, like Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPC), say they have been feeling a similar hit in their finances.

“The increase in the federal carbon tax will have a significant impact on costs for heating and transportation in the District. It is something we knew was on the horizon, and has been included in our budgeting for the 2022/23 school year. This year we projected the increase in the carbon tax to cost about $44,000 in heating of schools and facilities alone. That doesn’t include the cost of transportation,” said Kevin Pobuda, WCPC Secretary Treasurer.

“It is one of many rising costs, such as inflation and the fluctuating costs of fuel that school districts have to navigate. Fortunately, the Alberta government has provided grant money to help offset a portion of the cost of fuel for transportation, which helps and is greatly appreciated.”

The Red Deer Public Schools District says they have not felt as much of an impact in fuel costs due to their current system.

“Carbon tax is an ever increasing cost that Red Deer Public budgets for each school year. In terms of transportation, our Division contracts its bussing through Prairie Bus Lines and The City of Red Deer Transit. Because of this, we may not feel the same impact of the rising carbon tax like other school divisions across the country. These costs are built in with our contract with Prairie and the City,” said the District in a statement.

Russell says total expenditures this 2022/23 school year at the CESD were $10.7 million, with $568,000 paid through reserves.

“We are in a position right now where we still do have a bit of a reserve in the facilities budget because we knew costs would fluctuate and maybe go up but that reserve is only going to last a few more years at the current rate that we’re using that reserve,” he said.

The statement comes in the wake of the ‘just transition’ legislation debate, in which the federal government plans to retrain workers in the oil and gas sectors toward more green and renewable energy sectors. The bill has been highly criticized in Alberta by both the NDP and UCP parties.

READ: Alberta NDP wants more details in fed’s ‘just transition’ plan

Russell says the district has been trying to make their schools more energy efficient through the regular replacement of boilers and heating systems and transitioning lights to light emitting diode (LED).

While the Board has not said what their next steps will be, they say they will be keeping an eye on the costs and hope educational facilities will be financially aided in the upcoming school year’s budget in the spring to reflect the increasing costs.

Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools did not comment on the matter.