Could big rent hikes be in store for tenants next year?

If you look at figures from Service New Brunswick, the amount of taxes levied against apartment buildings in New Brunswick might be misleading. That’s because while the assessed values are accurate, that might not be the case for the amount of taxes the landlord actually paid. Since 2022, apartment owners have been protected against large increases in the assessed value by which their properties can go up by. Every year, Service New Brunswick assesses the value of apartment buildings and then applies a municipal tax and a provincial tax based on that amount. Those bills then get mailed out to landlords every spring. But for those three years, the problems put a 10% cap on the taxable amount that an apartment buildings value could go up by. That annual spike protection is expected to continue thanks to new legislation. But before that happens, any untaxed assessment increases from the last three years will be lumped into next year’s bill. Well, taxes for our business represents 35 to 40% of our operating costs. So with that going up 44 to 54% in two years, it’s obviously going to mean a major impact on tenant rents. Just as an example, this building here on Fredericton’s Abbott Court has grown in assessed value by 64% since 2021. If you look online, records show the building cost about $161,000 in property taxes this year. The Covid’s developments, the Billings owner actually paid $130,000 in taxes thanks to the spike protection. With this gap in spike protection expected next year, the Billings tax bill could rise by 23%, assuming there’s no decrease in its value. We’re hoping that the government will meet with us again, have some more information about what they’re going to do and fix this because we’re in a housing crisis right now and. We we don’t want our tenants to get increases in their rent like that, like that’s that is the last thing that we want. While the provincial government ponders protections for landlords, advocates say tenants need help in the form of rent control. The province implemented a policy capping rent increases at 3.8% in 2022. Which expired at the end of the year. Meanwhile, landlords have seen the provincial portion of the taxes they pay on their properties cut in half as of 2023. Schulten says the relief he’s seeking is the complete elimination of that provincial property tax. He says until then, any discussion about a rent control in New Brunswick is unrealistic.