New Brunswick landlords warn of 'significant' rent hikes next year
CBC
A spokesperson for New Brunswick landlords is warning that a gap in protection against enormous property tax increases will result in significant rent hikes for tenants next year.
However, critics are questioning that warning, considering many tenants have seen hefty rent hikes even while landlords have been protected against big increases in property taxes in recent years.
"It's using the taxation as an excuse [to raise rents]," said Peter Jongeneelen, co-chair of ACORN New Brunswick, a tenants' rights group.
"No matter what, with no rent control in the province, we're still going to see rents go up."
Willy Scholten, president of the New Brunswick Apartment Owners Association, says landlords are bracing for a large jump in the property taxes on their buildings in 2025 and will be left with little choice but to pass that on to tenants.
Since 2022, apartment owners have been covered by a provincial policy capping the annual increase in assessed property value for which taxes had to be paid, said Scholten, who also serves as the chief financial officer for Colpitts Developments.
That meant, for example, if the assessed value of a property went up by 30 per cent in 2022, the owner's tax bill was only based on the assessed value going up by 10 per cent.
Scholten said the 10 per cent spike-protection policy was continued for 2023 and 2024.
In the last four years, the assessed value of apartments in New Brunswick went up by 64 per cent on average, he said.
Scholten said starting next year, the same spike protection will be reflected through new legislation, but not before the total outstanding assessed increases get lumped into apartment owners' 2025 bills — in addition to any potential increases for that year, up to 10 per cent.
"It's going to have a significant impact on the rents that we have to charge," Scholten said.
As an example, a Colpitts apartment building at 34 Abbott Ct. in Fredericton grew in assessed value by about 64 per cent, from $5 million in 2021 to $8.2 million this year.
While Colpitts would have owed $160,909 in property taxes for this year, it actually only had to pay $130,619, thanks to the spike protection.
With a pause in spike protection expected for next year, Scholten said that property's tax bill will rise by at least 23 per cent, considering its assessed value doesn't decrease.
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