Landlord Association Says Rising Assessments And ‘Double Tax’ Will Fuel Rent Spikes
Willy Scholten is the chair of the New Brunswick Apartment Owners Association (NBAOA). He says New Brunswick’s ‘double-tax’ will fuel rent spikes because many apartment buildings are seeing their assessed value spike by as much as 20 percent.
“I think they need to finally get rid of the double tax,” Scholten said. “If you’re going to increase assessments you’ve got to take into account the ramifications of that.”
In New Brunswick, non-owner-occupied buildings are charged taxes by both the province and the municipality. That ‘double tax’ stands in contrast to owner-occupied properties, which are only taxed by the municipality and not the province.
Scholten, a chartered accountant and CFO for Fredericton-based construction and property management company Colpitts Developments, said the ‘double tax’ has been an issue for the NBAOA for a long time.
He stressed that its impacts will hurt tenants, who can least afford it, the most. Scholten noted landlords small and large will have to pass on the price spikes to tenants if something isn’t done.
“It really comes back to the province and municipalities doing the right thing and trying to offset this and fix a system that’s been broken for years,” said Scholten…[Read More]