Homeowners may not be the only ones hit by the tax hikes announced Monday – those hikes will be passed on to renters, too.
While homeowners will see their taxes go up by an average of 3.3 per cent, and some apartment buildings will see much larger increases.
The tax increase is twice the average in larger apartment buildings, for example, in Cote des Neiges – NDG.
Buildings with six units are facing large tax hikes, including:
- 8.2% in Outremont
- 7% in Cote des Neiges – NDG
- 6.7% in Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie
Building owners are allowed to pass that increase right on to their tenants. That, plus a dramatic increase in property values means some renters could see double-digit rental rate increases.
Montreal city councillor Marvin Rotrand says some renters won’t find it easy.
“We have to get away from thinking we have to raise taxes every single year,” he said. “In my estimation, Montrealers are… overtaxed and the city’s got to either start constraining its budget – we really need a year of zero tax increase – or diversify sources of revenue.”
Rotrand said homeowner taxes don’t take house poor into consideration, either.
“We get 70 per cent of our money in property taxes. That doesn’t take capacity to pay into account. There may be seniors who are home rich but income poor, (on a) fixed income, and suddenly they’re facing tax increases year after year. So we’ve got to look at how we can do something different.”
