PROVIDENCE – Nine cities and towns so far have requested permission for property-tax increases exceeding this year’s state cap of 5.0 percent, according to data released today by Gary S. Sasse, director of the new R.I. Department of Revenue. But 28 are seeking tax increases “at or below” this year’s statutory cap of 5.0 percent, he said.
“The Department of Revenue, Division of Property Valuation and Municipal Finance, is responsible for monitoring compliance with the state’s property tax cap law,” Sasse noted in a statement this morning.
Two communities have yet to file their budget plans for fiscal 2009. “Providence typically goes through disclosure in late June,” Peder Schaefer, chief budget analyst for the R.I. Department of Administration, wrote in a letter to Sasse early this month. “We will see East Providence in the fall because of their November to October fiscal year.”
In the city budget plan unveiled on May 1, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline called for an increase of 3.75 percent. (READ MORE)
The 37 cities and towns that have completed their disclosure are seeking increase their property-tax levies by an average of 4.4 percent, or $67.321 million, to an FY 2009 total of $1.597 billion.
Cities and towns seeking to increase their tax levy by more than the state’s statutory maximum – currently, 5 percent – must be granted an exemption by the R.I. Auditor General. This year, some communities requested exemptions under more than one category.
As of June 13, Schaefer wrote, the state had granted six such exemptions based on municipal debt-service costs that rose more than 5 percent; five based on loss of non-property tax revenue; and one emergency exemption. The smallest increases in the property-tax levy were planned in Johnston (0.38 percent) and Cranston (0.86 percent).
The largest planned increases were in rural West Greenwich (14.05 percent), North Smithfield (13.19 percent), Foster (12.48 percent) and Tiverton (12.20 percent). Also seeking tax-levy increases that would exceed the state cap were Glocester (8.59 percent), Exeter (8.33 percent), Richmond (8.06 percent), Bristol (5.40 percent) and Westerly (5.15 percent).
Another eight communities – Block Island (New Shoreham), Coventry, Middletown, Narragansett, North Kingstown, South Kingstown, Portsmouth and Scituate – were planning hikes of exactly 5 percent.
But all of those are just estimates, Schaefer noted: “The actual levy amount will not be known until the summer, when we receive certified tax-levy information from the local assessors.”
For news and information from the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, visit www.ri.gov.
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