2025 -- H 5696 ======== LC000650 ======== 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 ____________ A N A C T RELATING TO TAXATION -- LEVY AND ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL TAXES Introduced By: Representatives Perez, Lima, Fellela, Hull, and Hopkins Date Introduced: February 26, 2025 Referred To: House Municipal Government & Housing It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: SECTION 1. Section 44-5-11.6 of the General Laws in Chapter 44-5 entitled "Levy and 1 Assessment of Local Taxes" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 44-5-11.6. Assessment of valuations — Apportionment of levies. 3 (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 44-5-11 [repealed], beginning on December 31, 4 2000, the assessors in the several towns and cities shall conduct an update as defined in this section 5 or shall assess all valuations and apportion the levy of all taxes legally ordered under the rules and 6 regulations, not repugnant to law, as the town meetings and city councils, respectively, shall, from 7 time to time, prescribe; provided, that the update or valuation is performed in accordance with the 8 following schedules: 9 (1)(i) For a transition period, for cities and towns that conducted or implemented a 10 revaluation as of 1993 or in years later: 11 Update Revaluation 12 Lincoln 2000 2003 13 South Kingstown 2000 2003 14 Smithfield 2000 2003 15 West Warwick 2000 2003 16 Johnston 2000 2003 17 Burrillville 2000 2003 18 North Smithfield 2000 2003 19 LC000650 - Page 2 of 7 Central Falls 2000 2003 1 North Kingstown 2000 2003 2 Jamestown 2000 2003 3 North Providence 2001 2004 4 Cumberland 2001 2004 5 Bristol 2004 2001 6 Charlestown 2001 2004 7 East Greenwich 2002 2005 8 Cranston 2002 2005 9 Barrington 2002 2005 10 Warwick 2003 2006 11 Warren 2003 2006 12 East Providence 2003 2006 13 (ii) Provided that the reevaluation period for the town of New Shoreham shall be extended 14 to 2003 and the update for the town of Hopkinton may be extended to 2007 with no additional 15 reimbursements by the state relating to the delay. 16 (iii) The implementation date for this schedule is December 31, of the stated year. 17 (iv) Those cities and towns not listed in this schedule shall continue the revaluation 18 schedule pursuant to § 44-5-11 [repealed]. 19 (2)(i) For the post-transition period and in years thereafter: 20 Update #1 Update #2 Revaluation 21 Woonsocket 2002 2005 2008 22 Pawtucket 2002 2005 2008 23 Portsmouth 2001 2004 2007 24 Coventry 2001 2004 2007 25 Providence 2003 2006 2009 26 Foster 2002 2005 2008 27 Middletown 2002 2005 2008 28 Little Compton 2003 2006 2009 29 Scituate 2003 2006 2009 30 Westerly 2003 2006 2009 31 West Greenwich 2004 2007 2010 32 Glocester 2004 2007 2010 33 Richmond 2004 2007 2010 34 LC000650 - Page 3 of 7 Bristol 2004 2007 2010 1 Tiverton 2005 2008 2011 2 Newport 2005 2008 2011 3 New Shoreham 2006 2009 2012 4 Narragansett 2005 2008 2011 5 Exeter 2005 2008 2011 6 Hopkinton 2007 2010 2013 7 Lincoln 2006 2009 2012 8 South Kingstown 2006 2009 2012 9 Smithfield 2006 2009 2012 10 West Warwick 2006 2009 2012 11 Johnston 2006 2009 2012 12 Burrillville 2006 2009 2012 13 North Smithfield 2006 2009 2012 14 Central Falls 2006 2009 2012 15 North Kingstown 2006 2009 2012 16 Jamestown 2006 2009 2012 17 North Providence 2007 2010 2013 18 Cumberland 2007 2010 2013 19 Charlestown 2007 2010 2013 20 East Greenwich 2008 2011 2014 21 Cranston 2008 2011 2014 22 Barrington 2008 2010 2014 23 Warwick 2009 2012 2015 24 Warren 2009 2012 2016 25 East Providence 2009 2012 2015 26 (ii) The implementation date for the schedule is December 31 of the stated year. Upon the 27 completion of the update and revaluation according to this schedule, each city and town shall 28 conduct a revaluation within nine (9) years of the date of the prior revaluation and shall conduct an 29 update of real property every three (3) years from the last revaluation. Provided, that for the town 30 of Bristol, the time for the first statistical update following the 2010 revaluation shall be extended 31 from 2013 to 2014 and said statistical update shall be based on valuations as of December 31, 2014, 32 and the first revaluation following the December 31, 2014, and 2015 statistical revaluation shall be 33 extended from 2016 to 2019 and said revaluation shall be based on valuations as of December 31, 34 LC000650 - Page 4 of 7 2018; and, that for the city of Woonsocket, the time of the first statistical update following the 2017 1 revaluation shall be extended from 2020 to 2021, and the statistical update shall be based on the 2 valuations as of December 31, 2021; and, that for the city of Warwick, the time for the second 3 statistical update following the 2015 revaluation shall be extended from 2021 to 2022 and said 4 statistical update shall be based on valuations as of December 31, 2022; and, that for the town of 5 Johnston, the time of the revaluation following the 2012 revaluation shall be extended from 2022 6 to 2023, and the statistical update shall be based on the valuations as of December 31, 2022; and, 7 that for the town of West Greenwich, the time for a first statistical update following the 2019 8 revaluation shall be extended from 2022 to 2023 and said statistical update shall be based on 9 valuations as of December 31, 2023; and, that for the town of New Shoreham, the full evaluation 10 nine (9) years following the 2012 revaluation based on the valuations of December 31, 2021, shall 11 be extended to December 31, 2022, and be based on valuations as of December 31, 2022. Provided 12 that for the city of East Providence, the revaluation period as of the December 31, 2021, assessment 13 date shall be extended to the December 31, 2022, assessment date, with no additional 14 reimbursements by the state relating to the delay. Provided, that for the city of Woonsocket, the 15 time of the second statistical update following the 2017 revaluation shall be extended from 2023 16 to 2024, and the statistical update shall be based on the valuations as of December 31, 2024; and 17 provided, further, that for the city of Woonsocket, the full revaluation nine (9) years following the 18 2017 revaluation based on the valuations of December 31, 2026, shall be extended to December 19 31, 2027, and be based on valuations as of December 31, 2027, and the first statistical update shall 20 be based upon the valuations as of December 31, 2030, and the second statistical update shall be 21 based upon the valuations as of December 31, 2033. 22 (iii) Cities and towns shall not change the assessment of any property based on the purchase 23 price of the property after a transfer occurs except in accordance with a townwide or citywide 24 revaluation or update schedule; provided that, this prohibition shall not apply to completed new 25 real estate construction. 26 (iv) Commencing December 31, 2025, and every December 31 thereafter, all revaluations 27 performed shall not increase more than twenty percent (20%) from the last previous revaluation 28 performed in accordance with this section. 29 (b) No later than February 1, 1998, the director of the department of revenue shall 30 promulgate rules and regulations consistent with the provisions of this section to define the 31 requirements for the updates that shall include, but not be limited to: 32 (1) An analysis of sales; 33 (2) A rebuilding of land value tables; 34 LC000650 - Page 5 of 7 (3) A rebuilding of cost tables of all improvement items; and 1 (4) A rebuilding of depreciation schedules. Upon completion of an update, each city or 2 town shall provide for a hearing and/or appeal process for any aggrieved person to address any 3 issue that arose during the update. 4 (c) The costs incurred by the towns and cities for the first update shall be borne by the state 5 in an amount not to exceed twenty dollars ($20.00) per parcel. The costs incurred by the towns and 6 cities for the second update shall be borne eighty percent (80%) by the state (in an amount not to 7 exceed sixteen dollars ($16.00) per parcel) and twenty percent (20%) by the town or city, and in 8 the third update and thereafter, the state shall pay sixty percent (60%) of the update (not to exceed 9 twelve dollars ($12.00) per parcel) and the town or city shall pay forty percent (40%); provided, 10 that for the second update and in all updates thereafter, that the costs incurred by any city or town 11 that is determined to be a distressed community pursuant to § 45-13-12 shall be borne eighty percent 12 (80%) by the state and twenty percent (20%) by the city or town for all updates required by this 13 section. 14 (d) The office of municipal affairs, after consultation with the League of Cities and Towns 15 and the Rhode Island Assessors’ Association, shall recommend adjustments to the costs formula 16 described in subsection (c) of this section based upon existing market conditions. 17 (e) Any property that is either exempt from the local property tax pursuant to § 44-3-3 or 18 pays a city or town an amount in lieu of taxes is not required to have its values updated pursuant to 19 this section and the property is not eligible for the reimbursement provisions of subsection (c) of 20 this section. However, those properties that are exempt from taxation and are eligible for state 21 appropriations in lieu of property tax under the provisions of § 45-13-5.1 are eligible for state 22 reimbursement pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, provided, that these properties were 23 revalued as part of that city or town’s most recent property revaluation. 24 (f) No city or town is required to conduct an update pursuant to this section unless the state 25 has appropriated sufficient funds to cover the state’s costs as identified in subsection (c) of this 26 section. 27 (g) Any city or town that fails to conduct an update or revaluation as required by this 28 section, or requests and receives an extension of the dates specified in this section, shall receive the 29 same amount of state aid under §§ 45-13-1, 45-13-5.1, and 45-13-12 in the budget year for which 30 the new values were to apply as the city or town received in state aid in the previous budget year; 31 provided, however, if the new year’s entitlement is lower than the prior year’s entitlement, the 32 lower amount applies, except for the town of New Shoreham for the fiscal year 2003. 33 (h) Any bill or resolution to extend the dates for a city or town to conduct an update or 34 LC000650 - Page 6 of 7 revaluation must be approved by a two-thirds (⅔) majority of both houses of the general assembly. 1 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 2 ======== LC000650 ======== LC000650 - Page 7 of 7 EXPLANATION BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF A N A C T RELATING TO TAXATION -- LEVY AND ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL TAXES *** This act would place a cap of twenty percent (20%) on increases in consecutive 1 revaluations of real property in all cities and towns conducting revaluations commencing December 2 31, 2025, and every December 31 thereafter. 3 This act would take effect upon passage. 4 ======== LC000650 ========