INDIANAPOLIS -- Homeowners facing huge property tax increases aren't the only people clamoring for reform.

An industry group says apartment operators pay a disproportionate share of property taxes, and with bills jumping statewide, apartment residents are likely to notice a bump in their rent.

"The largest uncontrollable expense in an apartment community for an apartment owner is the property taxes. So, as property taxes increase for the owner, it could have an effect on rent," the Indiana Apartment Association's Lynne Sullivan said.

Marion County this month saw several rallies by homeowners pleading with officials to stem the rise of property taxes. But Gary Ritz, of Paragus Properties, said renters should be concerned, too.

Ritz said one-third of Indiana residents live in rental properties. Like Sullivan, he said they will see tax increases passed to their rent bills.

"We'd like to see a system that's fair to not only the homeowners, but also to the rental properties," Ritz told 6News' Rick Hightower. "We'd like to see a system that is predictable so we have some idea from year to year what our real estate tax obligation will be."

On Friday afternoon, a few dozen people attended an IAA rally outside Indianapolis' City-County Building. The group said the rally was smaller than expected, probably because Gov. Mitch Daniels just two days earlier ordered a reassessment for Marion County and temporarily froze tax bills at 2006 levels.

The IAA said it liked the order, but it said long-term tax reform still is needed. Sullivan said apartment operators haven't been treated well in the state's previous attempts to reform property taxes.

"In the past, when there has been reform on property taxes, the rental housing industry has been a little left out, and we've picked up a larger share of the property tax burden than any of the residential classes. So, we want to be heard," she said.

People who rent out houses also are feeling a property tax pinch. David Fishburn, who owns more than 80 Indianapolis-area rental homes, said he is glad that Daniels temporarily froze Marion County's property tax bills. Had the governor not made the order, Fishburn would have paid $30,000 more in property taxes this year than he did last year.

Fishburn said those increases would have forced him to give some of his tenants a rent increase of $100 per month.

"As I pass increases to my tenants, because of their fixed incomes and their money problems, it's causing them to become wards of the state or even homeless," Fishburn said.