2025 -- H 5533
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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. 2025
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A N A C T
RELATING TO TOWNS AN D CITIES -- STATE AID
Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, McGaw, Cotter, Chippendale, Newberry,
Place, Edwards, Corvese, Noret, and Donovan
Date Introduced: February 13, 2025
Referred To: House Finance
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 45-13-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-13 entitled "State Aid" is 1
hereby amended to read as follows: 2
45-13-1. Apportionment of annual appropriation for state aid. 3
(a) As used in this chapter, the following words and terms have the following meanings: 4
(1) “Income” means the most recent estimate of per-capita income for a city, town or 5
county as reported by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 6
(2) “Population” means the most recent estimates of population for each city and town as 7
reported by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 8
(3) “Reference year” means the second fiscal year preceding the beginning of the fiscal 9
year in which the distribution of state aid to cities and towns is made provided however that the 10
reference year for distributions made in fiscal year 2007-2008 shall be the third fiscal year 11
preceding the beginning of the fiscal year 2007-2008 and provided further that the reference year 12
for distributions made in fiscal year 2008-2009 shall be the fourth fiscal year preceding the 13
beginning of the fiscal year 2008-2009. 14
(4) “Tax effort” means the total taxes imposed by a city or town for public purposes or the 15
totals of those taxes for the cities or towns within a county (except employee and employer 16
assessments and contributions to finance retirement and social insurance systems and other special 17
assessments for capital outlay) determined by the United States Secretary of Commerce for general 18
statistical purposes and adjusted to exclude amounts properly allocated to education expenses. 19
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(b) Aid to cities and towns shall be apportioned as follows: For each county, city or town, 1
let R be the tax effort divided by the square of per capita income, i.e., R = (tax effort)/(income x 2
income). 3
The amount to be allocated to the counties shall be apportioned in the ratio of the value of 4
R for each county divided by the sum of the values of R for all five (5) counties. 5
The amount to be allocated for all cities and for all towns within a county shall be the 6
allocation for that county apportioned proportionally to the total tax effort of the towns and cities 7
in that county. 8
The amount to be allocated to any city or town is the amount allocated to all cities or all 9
towns within the county apportioned in the ratio of the value of R for that city (or town) divided by 10
the sum of the values of R for all cities (or all towns) in that county; provided, further, that no city 11
or town shall receive an entitlement in excess of one hundred forty-five percent (145%) of that city 12
or town’s population multiplied by the average per capita statewide amount of the annual 13
appropriation for state aid to cities and towns. Any excess entitlement shall be allocated to the 14
remainder of the cities and towns in the respective county in accordance with the provisions of this 15
section. 16
For fiscal year 2004, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), aid calculations shall 17
be based on a blended rate of ninety percent (90%) of the data from the 1990 census and ten percent 18
(10%) of the data from the 2000 census. In each of the succeeding nine (9) fiscal years, the 19
calculations shall be based on a blended rate that increases the percentage of data utilized from the 20
2000 census by ten percent (10%) from the previous year and decreases the percentage of the data 21
utilized from the 1990 census by ten percent (10%) from the previous year. 22
(c) The total amount of aid to be apportioned pursuant to subsection (b) above shall be 23
specified in the annual appropriation act of the state and shall be equal to the following: 24
(1) For fiscal years ending June 30, 1994 through June 30, 1998, the total amount of aid 25
shall be based upon one percent (1%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 26
(2) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1999, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 27
one and three-tenths percent (1.3%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 28
(3) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 29
one and seven-tenths percent (1.7%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 30
(4) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 31
two percent (2.0%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 32
(5) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 33
two and four-tenths percent (2.4%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 34
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(6) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 1
two and four-tenths percent (2.4%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 2
(7) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 3
two and seven-tenths percent (2.7%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 4
(8) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, the total amount of aid shall be fifty-two 5
million four hundred thirty-eight thousand five hundred thirty-two dollars ($52,438,532). 6
(9) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, the total amount of aid shall be based upon 7
three percent (3%) of total state tax revenues in the reference year. 8
(10) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007 the total amount of aid shall be sixty-four 9
million six hundred ninety-nine thousand three dollars ($64,699,003). 10
(11) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, the total amount of aid shall be sixty-four 11
million six hundred ninety-nine thousand three dollars ($64,699,003). 12
(12) [Deleted by P.L. 2009, ch. 68, art. 6, section 3.] 13
(13) [Deleted by P.L. 2007, ch. 73, art. 25, section 1.] 14
(14) [Deleted by P.L. 2007, ch. 73, art. 25, section 1.] 15
(d) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008 the apportionments of state aid as derived 16
through the calculations as required by subsections (a) through (c) of this section shall be adjusted 17
downward statewide by ten million dollars ($10,000,000). 18
(e) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, the total amount of aid shall be twenty-five 19
million dollars ($25,000,000) with such distribution allocated proportionately on the same basis as 20
the original enactment of general revenue sharing of FY 2009. 21
(f) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 and thereafter, funding shall be determined by 22
appropriation. 23
(g) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, the total amount of aid shall be thirty-nine 24
million dollars ($39,000,000) to be allocated and distributed based on population as determined by 25
the 2020 census. 26
(h) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027 and thereafter, aid shall be increased by the 27
total percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U). 28
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 29
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO TOWNS AN D CITIES -- STATE AID
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This act would reinstate general revenue sharing of state aid among the thirty-nine cities 1
and towns in Rhode Island. The initial amount would be based upon population, and would be 2
increased annually thereafter based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban 3
Consumers. 4
This act would take effect upon passage. 5
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