The Manitoba government could move to revoke the taxation powers of school boards.

Education Minister Peter Bjornson said he has reached the end of his patience with school boards that continue to ignore the government's demands to hold the line on taxes.

'That's one of the tools that we could consider, and given the current economic environment that might be a necessary step.'—Peter Bjornson, education minister

Earlier this year, the province offered the school boards financial incentives in return for freezing property tax increases, but only two-thirds of the boards complied. The rest, including a number of Winnipeg boards, ignored the offer and raised their portion of the property tax.

Bjornson told CBC News the government will now consider other ways to limit property tax increases, including revoking the boards' taxation powers.

"Well that's one of the tools that we could consider, and given the current economic environment that might be a necessary step," he said.

Similar action was announced earlier this week by the Saskatchewan government, which said it is revamping the school tax system and assuming direct control over how much property owners pay on the education portion of their tax bills.

The change, announced in Wednesday's budget, will end a system that has been in place since 1905, the year Saskatchewan became a province. For 104 years, school board trustees have set mill rates to pay for part of the costs of running schools.

Starting in 2009-10, property tax rates for education will be set by provincial politicians in Regina.