PROVIDENCE – The House Committee on Municipal Government and Housing approved a bill that would allow for a one-year increase to the city's property tax cap levy – or the total amount of revenue the city can collect from property taxes – above the state’s usual 4% limit, WPRI-TV CBS 12 reported Tuesday.
The bill is key to
Mayor Brett P. Smiley’s proposed $624.2 million budget for fiscal year 2026 that begins July 1. The spending plan includes a host of tax and fee hikes to help cover a projected $25 million shortfall, which includes a $15 million settlement reached with the city’s schools.
The bill, introduced in the House by Rep. Rebecca Kislak, D-Providence, would grant the city a one-year levy cap exemption for the 2026 fiscal year not to exceed 8%. Smiley has proposed a 7.5% increase in tax revenue compared with the city's fiscal 2025 budget.
While the levy cap restricts the overall revenue the city can collect from property taxes, it does not limit the tax rate or the assessed value of individual properties, meaning individual property tax bills could increase by more than the levy cap percentage, as the bills can fluctuate based on changes in property values and the city budget.
Budget documents show that valuations across the city increased by 37% on average due to the last property revaluation, meaning that most taxpayers will see higher bills despite paying lower rates.
Smiley is proposing a tax rate of $8.25 per $1,000 of assessed value for owner-occupied dwellings and $14.40 for non-owner-occupied dwellings, while the rates for dwellings with six to 10 units would be set at $24.50 and at $27.75 for dwellings with more than 11 units.
Property taxes on single-family homes would increase by 4%, or an average increase of $160 per year. Multifamily non-owner-occupied properties with two to five units on average would see tax bills increase by $1,197.47 per year.
The commercial tax rate would be lowered to $28.80 per $1,000 of assessed value, leading to commercial property owners seeing their tax bills drop by 2% on average, or about $400 per year.
However, Smiley’s proposed budget also increases a host of property tax exemptions, doubling the exemptions for veterans and increasing those for senior citizens by 25%.
The legislation still needs full approval from the General Assembly.
The City Council unanimously passed a resolution in March to support the measure to exceed the state-mandated tax levy cap of 4% for one year.
City taxpayers confronted Smiley during a Statehouse tax hearing on April 22. Housing Chairman Stephen Casey asked the group to “take it to the rotunda,” according to another WPRI-TV report, because it was disruptive.
Sen. Samuel Zurier, D-Providence, told his constituents in a letter that the bill's passage in the House looked bleak.
“I am sorry to report that none of my Providence colleagues agreed to co-sponsor the bill,” Zurier said. “I will continue to urge them to allow our mayor and City Council to perform their duties without our interference, as our mayor and City Council have been elected to prepare and approve a responsible city budget that is in the best interest of taxpayers and residents.”
Rep. Enrique Sanchez, D-Providence, posted on X that he would vote no on the bill.
“We still have a chance to kill this bill on the Senate side,” Sanchez said. “I will vote no when the bill hits the House floor but first, I will work hard to mobilize Providence residents to protest at the Statehouse and ask our legislators to vote no on increasing the levy.”
The budget requires City Council approval and must be signed by the mayor by July 1.
(UPDATE: Clarifies property tax will go up 160 per year in 7th paragraph.)
