2023 -- H 6222
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LC002615
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S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
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A N A C T
RELATING TO TOWNS AN D CITIES -- STATE AID
Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, and McGaw
Date Introduced: March 29, 2023
Referred To: House Finance
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. The general assembly makes the following findings of fact: 1
(1) Cities and town across Rhode Island have been struggling with the recent inflationary 2
environment; 3
(2) In 2009, the general assembly discontinued revenue sharing due to the economic 4
collapse; 5
(3) The removal of general revenue sharing forced the cities and towns to increase property 6
taxes to make up for this loss in revenue; 7
(4) The State of Rhode has seen a very strong rebound from the economic crisis brought 8
on by the COVID pandemic; 9
(5) During the past two (2) fiscal years, the State of Rhode Island has benefitted from the 10
economic rebound with $417 and $878 million surpluses, respectively, and an anticipated $600 11
million surplus for FY 2023; 12
(6) Reinstating general revenue sharing for all thirty-nine (39) cities and towns will help 13
reduce the impact of inflation on the citizens of Rhode Island; and 14
(7) Restoring thirty-nine million dollars ($39,000,000) of general revenue sharing to cities 15
and towns based on the 2020 census would result in the following allocation and distribution: 16
City 2020 Census Total Payment 17
Barrington 17153 $ 600,355 18
Bristol 22493 $ 787,255 19
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Burrillville 16158 $ 565,530 1
Central Falls 22583 $ 790,405 2
Charlestown 7997 $ 279,895 3
Coventry 35688 $ 1,249,080 4
Cranston 82934 $ 2,902,690 5
Cumberland 36405 $ 1,274,175 6
East Greenwich 14312 $ 500,920 7
East Providence 47139 $ 1,649,865 8
Exeter 6460 $ 226,100 9
Foster 4469 $ 156,415 10
Glocester 9974 $ 349,090 11
Hopkinton 8398 $ 293,930 12
Jamestown 5559 $ 194,565 13
Johnston 29568 $ 1,034,880 14
Lincoln 22529 $ 788,515 15
Little Compton 3616 $ 126,560 16
Middletown 17075 $ 597,625 17
Narragansett 14532 $ 508,620 18
New Shoreham 1410 $ 49,350 19
Newport 25163 $ 880,705 20
North Kingstown 27732 $ 970,620 21
North Providence 34114 $ 1,193,990 22
North Smithfield 12588 $ 440,580 23
Pawtucket 75604 $ 2,646,140 24
Portsmouth 17871 $ 625,485 25
Providence 190934 $ 6,682,690 26
Richmond 8020 $ 280,700 27
Scituate 10384 $ 363,440 28
Smithfield 22118 $ 774,130 29
South Kingstown 31931 $ 1,117,585 30
Tiverton 16359 $ 572,565 31
Warren 11147 $ 390,145 32
Warwick 82823 $ 2,898,805 33
West Greenwich 6528 $ 228,480 34
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West Warwick 31012 $ 1,085,420 1
Westerly 23359 $ 817,565 2
Woonsocket 43240 $ 1,513,400 3
1097379 $ 38,408,265 4
SECTION 2. Section 45-13-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-13 entitled "State Aid" is 5
hereby amended to read as follows: 6
45-13-1. Apportionment of annual appropriation for state aid. 7
(a) As used in this chapter, the following words and terms have the following meanings: 8
(1) “Income” means the most recent estimate of per-capita income for a city, town or 9
county as reported by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 10
(2) “Population” means the most recent estimates of population for each city and town as 11
reported by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 12
(3) “Reference year” means the second fiscal year preceding the beginning of the fiscal 13
year in which the distribution of state aid to cities and towns is made provided however that the 14
reference year for distributions made in fiscal year 2007-2008 shall be the third fiscal year 15
preceding the beginning of the fiscal year 2007-2008 and provided further that the reference year 16
for distributions made in fiscal year 2008-2009 shall be the fourth fiscal year preceding the 17
beginning of the fiscal year 2008-2009. 18
(4) “Tax effort” means the total taxes imposed by a city or town for public purposes or the 19
totals of those taxes for the cities or towns within a county (except employee and employer 20
assessments and contributions to finance retirement and social insurance systems and other special 21
assessments for capital outlay) determined by the United States Secretary of Commerce for general 22
statistical purposes and adjusted to exclude amounts properly allocated to education expenses. 23
(b) Aid to cities and towns shall be apportioned as follows: For each county, city or town, 24
let R be the tax effort divided by the square of per capita income, i.e., R = (tax effort)/(income x 25
income). 26
The amount to be allocated to the counties shall be apportioned in the ratio of the value of 27
R for each county divided by the sum of the values of R for all five (5) counties. 28
The amount to be allocated for all cities and for all towns within a county shall be the 29
allocation for that county apportioned proportionally to the total tax effort of the towns and cities 30
in that county. 31
The amount to be allocated to any city or town is the amount allocated to all cities or all 32
towns within the county apportioned in the ratio of the value of R for that city (or town) divided by 33
the sum of the values of R for all cities (or all towns) in that county; provided, further, that no city 34
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or town shall receive an entitlement in excess of one hundred forty-five percent (145%) of that city 1
or town’s population multiplied by the average per capita statewide amount of the annual 2
appropriation for state aid to cities and towns. Any excess entitlement shall be allocated to the 3
remainder of the cities and towns in the respective county in accordance with the provisions of this 4
section. 5
For fiscal year 2004, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), aid calculations shall 6
be based on a blended rate of ninety percent (90%) of the data from the 1990 census and ten percent 7
(10%) of the data from the 2000 census. In each of the succeeding nine (9) fiscal years, the 8
calculations shall be based on a blended rate that increases the percentage of data utilized from the 9
2000 census by ten percent (10%) from the previous year and decreases the percentage of the data 10
utilized from the 1990 census by ten percent (10%) from the previous year. 11
(c) The total amount of aid to be apportioned pursuant to subsection (b) above shall be 12
specified in the annual appropriation act of the state and shall be equal to the following: 13
(1) For fiscal years ending June 30, 1994 through June 30, 1998, the total amount of aid 14
shall be based upon one percent (1%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 15
(2) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1999, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 16
one and three-tenths percent (1.3%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 17
(3) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 18
one and seven-tenths percent (1.7%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 19
(4) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 20
two percent (2.0%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 21
(5) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 22
two and four-tenths percent (2.4%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 23
(6) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 24
two and four-tenths percent (2.4%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 25
(7) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 26
two and seven-tenths percent (2.7%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 27
(8) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, the total amount of aid shall be fifty-two 28
million four hundred thirty-eight thousand five hundred thirty-two dollars ($52,438,532). 29
(9) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 30
three percent (3%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 31
(10) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007 the total amount of aid shall be sixty-four 32
million six hundred ninety-nine thousand three dollars ($64,699,003). 33
(11) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, the total amount of aid shall be sixty-four 34
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million six hundred ninety-nine thousand three dollars ($64,699,003). 1
(12) [Deleted by P.L. 2009, ch. 68, art. 6, section 3.] 2
(13) [Deleted by P.L. 2007, ch. 73, art. 25, section 1.] 3
(14) [Deleted by P.L. 2007, ch. 73, art. 25, section 1.] 4
(d) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008 the apportionments of state aid as derived 5
through the calculations as required by subsections (a) through (c) of this section shall be adjusted 6
downward statewide by ten million dollars ($10,000,000). 7
(e) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, the total amount of aid shall be twenty-five 8
million dollars ($25,000,000) with such distribution allocated proportionately on the same basis as 9
the original enactment of general revenue sharing of FY 2009. 10
(f) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 and thereafter, funding shall be determined by 11
appropriation. 12
(g) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, the total amount of aid shall be thirty-nine 13
million dollars ($39,000,000) to be allocated and distributed based on population as determined by 14
the 2020 census. 15
(h) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 and thereafter, aid shall be increased by the 16
total percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U). 17
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. 18
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO TOWNS AN D CITIES -- STATE AID
***
This act would provide state aid to municipalities in the amount of thirty-nine million 1
dollars ($39,000,000) based on population and increased annually by the increase in the consumer 2
price index (CPI). 3
This act would take effect upon passage. 4
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