B.C.’s apartment owners and managers are welcoming the provincial government’s plans to review the carbon tax, which they claim is hitting them hard.
According to the BC Apartment Owners and Managers Association (BCAOMA), with B.C.’s carbon tax on natural gas currently $1.24 per gigajoule, B.C.’s approximately 600,000 rental apartments are being charged an estimated $44.6 million a year in carbon tax.
And because of rent controls, the BCAOMA says, renters aren’t paying for this – property owners are.
“Since property owners can’t pass this growing cost onto their customers it acts as a disincentive to improving and maintaining their buildings,” said Marg Gordon, CEO of BCAOMA.
She noted that the review won’t halt a carbon tax hike that raise the rate to $1.49 per gigajoule on July 1.
“The money property owners pay to carbon taxes comes out of the same pockets they use to pay for building improvements and maintenance,” she said.
Gordon added the BCAOMA looks forward to meeting with government officials as soon as possible to discuss “how this serious problem can be remedied.”
According to the BCAOMA, the association’s position is supported by B.C.’s other major rental associations, the Rental Owners and Managers Society of BC and the Professional Association of Managing Agents.
The BC Liberal Party announced the carbon tax review in late February in tandem with the release of the province’s budget.
