Victoria councillor wants landlords to be able to raise rents to match rising property taxes
CTV
If Victoria Coun. Geoff Young’s proposal gets adopted and the province agrees, rents in Victoria could become even higher than they already are.
"Basically it's to allow renters to see some of the impact of budget decisions that the city council is making," Young told CTV News Wednesday.
Young wants landlords be allowed to tie a portion of a tenant’s rent to property taxes.
He says budget talks are currently being discussed at council and there is a long list of projects that his fellow councillors want to see included in the coming year.
"If we do them all, there is going to be a pretty significant tax increase," he said.
Young says a large percentage of Victoria residents are renters.
Currently the province has capped rental increases to 1.5 per cent for the year.
The councillor says with his proposal, renters in the capital will immediately feel the pinch, just as landlords do when city spending goes up, leading to an increase in property taxes.
However, he says the impact to renters would be minimal, as only 10 per cent of the province's formula for calculating rent caps are based on property taxes.
