Tax-reduced zone bill advances

PROVIDENCE – A bill to establish a tax-reduced Municipal Economic Development zone in Arctic, a village in West Warwick, has made it through the Senate Finance Committee. Retail businesses within the zone would be exempt from 50 percent of the sales and use tax for 10 years. The other 50 percent of the tax that they would pay would be returned to West Warwick to expand on its capital improvement aspect of the MED plan. To qualify for inclusion in the program, businesses must locate in new construction within the zone. Businesses which offer gambling or sell tobacco or packaged alcoholic beverages, automobile dealerships and furniture stores would not qualify for the exemption. The bill is designed to revive what was once one of the prime shopping areas in the region, but has been in steady decline since the advent of the Warwick shopping malls in the 1960s. The full Senate is expected to act on the bill within weeks, and then the House must act on it before it goes to the governor for his signature.