Yellowknife (July 12/06) - A potential property tax increase in Yellowknife may soon have renters in the city paying more.

Funding for the $16 million to $22 million sports fieldhouse would likely increase property taxes by 0.83 per cent to 5.85 per cent, according to city hall estimates.

A property tax increase would reflect in the monthly price of rent, said Jennifer Eggenberger, property manager with Yellowknife Dairies.

"Eventually all cost increases would get filtered down to the renter," she said.

A six per cent increase in property taxes could increase rent anywhere between $15 to $100, but it would depend on each individual property, said Eggenberger.

While rental fees could get higher, the renter is protected to some degree under the Residential Tenancies Act, said Hal Logsdon, NWT rental officer. Landlords can only increase rent once every 12 months and they must give tenants at least 90 days notice about the increase.

In May, city council approved a property tax increase of 2.47 per cent. Property taxes also increased by 2.4 per cent in 2005.

The Residential Control Act helps prevent landlords from increasing rent on a consistent basis, said John Westergreen, a rental property owner in Yellowknife.

Westergreen said a property tax increase would cause him to increase rent, but it would be over a period of one or two years.

A slight increase in rent may not hurt a large percentage of the affluent people living in Yellowknife, but it will affect some, according to Westergreen.

"It's difficult for the bottom guy. Rent increases can really hurt the poor," he said.

A Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation study found that there was a 3.3 per cent vacancy rate for rental dwellings in Yellowknife.

The average rent for apartments in the city was $1,208 while the average rent for a townhouse was $1,377.