"Many times while I have been on the Yellowknife Education District Number 1 board I have questioned various aspects of the taxation system," said trustee Terry Brookes.

"I am sure at some point in the past it represented a fair method to collect education taxes for distribution to education districts in the NWT. But, times have changed."

Currently City of Yellowknife property owners pay 20 per cent of the cost of education for Grades K-12 and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) pays the remaining 80 per cent.

Brookes said he has asked a number of times what the rationale of the formula is.

"The answer remains a mystery." he said. According to Brookes, outside Yellowknife 100 per cent of education funding comes from ECE.

Property owners in other communities do pay education tax, but the money goes into GNWT general revenues, said Brookes.

In 2002, the average education mill rate in Northern communities was 3.8 mills. In Yellowknife the education mill rate has been 6.06 since 1996. A mill represents one-thousandth of a cent and would translate into $100 on every $100,000 of assessed property value.

"It is plainly seen that things are not quite equitable and that raises a variety of questions," said Brookes.

He also notes that he has some question over how generated revenues are distributed.

"Early in my years on the board I questioned the option of Yellowknife ratepayers to allocate their education tax to either of the two boards. I used the example of Giant Mine, the then- largest taxpayer in Yellowknife, in the fact that if it wished it could switch its tax allocation by any amount on a yearly basis, which would create financial instability in both boards," said Brookes.

He added that the statement proved ironic because the virtual closure of the mine contributed to the district's current debt situation.

"Times have changed and the property tax base has changed in the NWT and will continue to change in the future. The old tax revenue arrangements also need to change. The board needs to address this situation and not allow the potential detriment to education funding resources for Yellowknife students," said Brookes.

The matter will be brought up during the board's meeting with MLAs in February.