2022 -- S 2013 | |
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LC003220 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO TAXATION -- PROPERTY SUBJECT TO TAXATION | |
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Introduced By: Senators Kallman, Acosta, Anderson, Quezada, Euer, Valverde, | |
Date Introduced: January 06, 2022 | |
Referred To: Senate Finance | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 44-3-9 of the General Laws in Chapter 44-3 entitled "Property |
2 | Subject to Taxation" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 44-3-9. Exemption or stabilizing of taxes on property used for manufacturing, |
4 | commercial, or residential purposes. |
5 | (a)(1) Except as provided in this section, the electors of any city or town qualified to vote |
6 | on a proposition to appropriate money or impose a tax when legally assembled, may vote to |
7 | authorize the city or town council, for a period not exceeding twenty (20) years, and subject to the |
8 | conditions as provided in this section, to exempt from payment, in whole or in part, real and |
9 | personal property which has undergone environmental remediation, is historically preserved, or is |
10 | used for affordable housing, manufacturing, commercial, or residential purposes, or to determine a |
11 | stabilized amount of taxes to be paid on account of the property, notwithstanding the valuation of |
12 | the property or the rate of tax; provided, that after public hearings, at least ten (10) days' notice of |
13 | which shall be given in a newspaper having a general circulation in the city or town, the city or |
14 | town council determines that: |
15 | (i) Granting of the exemption or stabilization will inure to the benefit of the city or town |
16 | by reason of: |
17 | (A) The willingness of the manufacturing or commercial concern to locate in the city or |
18 | town, or of individuals to reside in such an area; or |
19 | (B) The willingness of a manufacturing firm to expand facilities with an increase in |
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1 | employment or the willingness of a commercial or manufacturing concern to retain or expand its |
2 | facility in the city or town and not substantially reduce its work force in the city or town; or |
3 | (C) An improvement of the physical plant of the city or town which will result in a long- |
4 | term economic benefit to the city or town and state; or |
5 | (D) An improvement which converts or makes available land or facility that would |
6 | otherwise be not developable or difficult to develop without substantial environmental remediation; |
7 | or |
8 | (ii) Granting of the exemption or stabilization of taxes will inure to the benefit of the city |
9 | or town by reason of the willingness of a manufacturing or commercial or residential firm or |
10 | property owner to construct new or to replace, reconstruct, convert, expand, retain or remodel |
11 | existing buildings, facilities, machinery, or equipment with modern buildings, facilities, fixtures, |
12 | machinery, or equipment resulting in an increase or maintenance in plant, residential housing or |
13 | commercial building investment by the firm or property owned in the city or town; |
14 | (2) Provided that should the city or town council make the determination in subparagraph |
15 | (1)(i)(B) of this subsection, any exemption or stabilization may be granted as to new buildings, |
16 | fixtures, machinery, or equipment for new buildings, firms or expansions, and may be granted as |
17 | to existing buildings, fixtures, machinery and equipment for existing employers in the city or town. |
18 | (b) Cities shall have the same authority as is granted to towns except that authority granted |
19 | to the qualified electors of a town and to town councils shall be exercised in the case of a city by |
20 | the city council. |
21 | (c) For purposes of this section, "property used for commercial purposes" means any |
22 | building or structures used essentially for offices or commercial enterprises. |
23 | (d) Except as provided in this section, property, the payment of taxes on which has been so |
24 | exempted or which is subject to the payment of a stabilized amount of taxes, shall not, during the |
25 | period for which the exemption or stabilization of the amount of taxes is granted, be further liable |
26 | to taxation by the city or town in which the property is located so long as the property is used for |
27 | the manufacturing or commercial, or residential purposes for which the exemption or stabilized |
28 | amount of taxes was made. |
29 | (e) Notwithstanding any vote of the qualified electors of a town and findings of a town |
30 | council or of any vote and findings by a city council, the property shall be assessed for and shall |
31 | pay that portion of the tax, if any, assessed by the city or town in which the real or personal property |
32 | is located, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness of the city or town and the indebtedness of |
33 | the state or any political subdivision of the state to the extent assessed upon or apportioned to the |
34 | city or town, and the interest on the indebtedness, and for appropriation to any sinking fund of the |
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1 | city or town, which portion of the tax shall be paid in full, and the taxes so assessed and collected |
2 | shall be kept in a separate account and used only for that purpose. |
3 | (f) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to permit the exemption or stabilization |
4 | provided in this section for any manufacturing or commercial concern relocating from one city or |
5 | town within the state of Rhode Island to another. |
6 | (g) Renewable energy resources, as defined in § 39-26-5, qualify for tax stabilization |
7 | agreements pursuant to § 44-3-9(a). |
8 | (h)(1) Pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, tax exemption or stabilization granted to |
9 | residential development projects, shall require, as a condition of the agreement between the city or |
10 | town and the entity seeking relief, that: |
11 | (i) Residential development projects of five (5) to nine (9) housing units include a number |
12 | of affordable housing units not less than a number equal to eighteen percent (18%) of the market- |
13 | rate units developed, or contribute an amount equal to eighteen percent (18%) of the total value of |
14 | the development project; |
15 | (ii) Residential development projects of ten (10) or more housing units shall include a |
16 | number of affordable housing units not less than a number equal to eighteen percent (18%) of the |
17 | market-rate units developed; and |
18 | (iii) Any such affordable housing units created, whether on-site or off-site, must be |
19 | comparable in size and quality to the average of all market-rate housing units in the development. |
20 | (2) In the event that the calculation set forth in subsections (h)(1)(i) through (ii) of this |
21 | section results in a remainder, a city or town granting tax exemption or stabilization for a residential |
22 | development project may establish payment terms requiring the developer to contribute an amount |
23 | reasonably equivalent to the remainder to a city or town account. |
24 | (3) For the purposes of the section, affordable housing shall be defined as housing for sale |
25 | or rent with combined rental costs or combined mortgage loan debt service, property taxes, and |
26 | required insurance that do not exceed thirty percent (30%) of the gross annual income of a |
27 | household earning up to eighty percent (80%) of the Providence-Fall River, RI-MA metropolitan |
28 | area median income, as defined annually by the United States Department of Housing and Urban |
29 | Development. |
30 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO TAXATION -- PROPERTY SUBJECT TO TAXATION | |
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1 | This act would require cities and towns to implement affordable housing requirements |
2 | upon all developers of tax stabilization applications for developments of five (5) or more housing |
3 | units based upon median income as defined by the federal Department of Housing and Urban |
4 | Development (HUD). |
5 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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