Chapter 008
2010 -- H 8064 AS AMENDED
Enacted 05/01/10
A N A C T
RELATING TO
TAXATION -- MOTOR VEHICLE AND TRAILER EXCISE TAX ELIMINATION ACT OF 1988
Introduced By: Representatives Costantino, Carter, and Melo
Date Introduced: April 28, 2010
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 44-34.1-2 of the General Laws in Chapter
44-34.1 entitled "Motor
Vehicle and Trailer Excise
Tax Elimination Act of 1998" is hereby amended to read as follows:
44-34.1-2. City
and town and fire district reimbursement. -- (a) In
fiscal years 2000
and thereafter, cities and towns and fire districts shall
receive reimbursements, as set forth in this
section, from state general revenues equal to the amount of
lost tax revenue due to the phase out
or reduction of the excise tax. Cities and towns and
fire districts shall receive advance
reimbursements through state fiscal year 2002. In the event the tax
is phased out, cities and towns
and fire districts shall receive a permanent distribution
of sales tax revenue pursuant to section
44-18-18 in an amount equal to any lost revenue
resulting from the excise tax elimination. Lost
revenues must be determined using a base tax rate fixed at
fiscal year 1998 levels for each city,
town, and fire district, except that the Town of
year 1999 level.
(b) (1) The director of administration shall determine the amount of
general revenues to
be distributed to each city and town and fire district
for the fiscal years 1999 and thereafter so that
every city and town and fire district is held harmless from
tax loss resulting from this chapter,
assuming that tax rates are indexed to inflation through
fiscal year 2003.
(2) The director of
administration shall index the tax rates for inflation by applying the
annual change in the December Consumer Price Index -- All
Urban Consumers (CPI-U),
published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United
States Department of Labor, to the
indexed tax rate used for the prior fiscal year calculation;
provided, that for state reimbursements
in fiscal years 2004 and thereafter, the indexed tax
rate shall not be subject to further CPI-U
adjustments. The director shall apply the following principles in
determining reimbursements:
(i)
Exemptions granted by cities and towns and fire districts in the fiscal year
1998 must
be applied to assessed values prior to applying the
exemptions in section 44-34.1-1(c)(1). Cities
and towns and fire districts will not be reimbursed for
these exemptions.
(ii) City, town, and
fire districts shall be reimbursed by the state for revenue losses
attributable to the exemptions provided for in section 44-34.1-1
and the inflation indexing of tax
rates through fiscal 2003. Reimbursement for revenue losses
shall be calculated based upon the
difference between the maximum taxable value less personal
exemptions and the net assessed
value.
(iii) Inflation
reimbursements shall be the difference between:
(A) The levy calculated
at the tax rate used by each city and town and fire district for
fiscal year 1998 after adjustments for personal exemptions
but prior to adjustments for
exemptions contained in section 44-34.1-1(c)(1); provided, that
for the town of
rate used for fiscal year 1999 must be used for the
calculation; and
(B) The levy calculated
by applying the appropriate cumulative inflation adjustment
through state fiscal 2003 to the tax rate used by each city
and town and fire district for fiscal year
1998; provided, that for the town of
for the calculation after adjustments for personal
exemptions but prior to adjustments for
exemptions contained in section 44-34.1-1.
(c) (1) Funds shall be
distributed to the cities and towns and fire districts as follows:
(i)
On October 20, 1998, and each October 20 thereafter through October 20, 2001,
twenty-five percent (25%) of the amount calculated by the
director of administration to be the
difference for the upcoming fiscal year.
(ii) On February 20,
1999, and each February 20 thereafter through February 20, 2002,
twenty-five percent (25%) of the amount calculated by the
director of administration to be the
difference for the upcoming fiscal year.
(iii) On June 20, 1999,
and each June 20 thereafter through June 20, 2002, fifty percent
(50%) of the amount calculated by the director of
administration to be the difference for the
upcoming fiscal year.
(iv)
On August 1, 2002, and each August 1 thereafter, twenty-five percent
(25%) of the
amount calculated by the director of administration to be
the difference for the current fiscal year.
(v) On November 1,
2002, and each November 1 thereafter, twenty-five percent (25%)
of the amount calculated by the director of administration
to be the difference for the current
fiscal year.
(vi)
On February 1, 2003, and each February 1 thereafter, twenty-five percent
(25%) of
the amount calculated by the director of administration
to be the difference for the current fiscal
year.
(vii) On May 1, 2003,
and each May 1 thereafter, except May 1, 2010, twenty-five
percent (25%) of the amount calculated by the director of
administration to be the difference for
the current fiscal year.
(viii) On June 15,
2010, twenty-five percent (25%) of the amount calculated by the
director of administration to be the difference for the
current fiscal year.
Provided, however, the
February and May payments, and June payment in 2010, shall be
subject to submission of final certified and reconciled motor
vehicle levy information.
(2) Each city, town, or
fire district shall submit final certified and reconciled motor
vehicle levy information by August 30 of each year. Any
adjustment to the estimated amounts
paid in the previous fiscal year shall be included or
deducted from the payment due November 1.
(3) On any of the
payment dates specified in paragraphs (1)(i) through (vii) of this
subsection, the director is authorized to deduct previously made
over-payments or add
supplemental payments as may be required to bring the
reimbursements into full compliance with
the requirements of this chapter.
(4) For the city of
on February 20, 1999, and each February 20 thereafter
through February 20, 2002, twenty-five
percent (25%) on June 20, 1999, and each June 20 thereafter
through June 20, 2002, which
includes final reconciliation of the previous year's payment,
and fifty percent (50%) on October
20, 1999, and each October 20
thereafter through October 20, 2002.
For local fiscal years 2003
and thereafter, the payment schedule is twenty-five
percent (25%) on each November 1, twenty-
five percent (25%) on each February 1, twenty-five percent
(25%) on each May 1, which includes
final reconciliation of the previous year's payment, and
twenty-five percent (25%) on each
August 1; provided, the May and August payments shall
be subject to submission of final
certified and reconciled motor vehicle levy information.
(5) When the tax is
phased out, funds distributed to the cities, towns, and fire districts for
the following fiscal year shall be calculated as the
funds distributed in the fiscal year of the phase-
out. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the amounts calculated
shall be distributed to the cities and
towns and fire districts on August 1, in the fiscal year of
the phase-out, twenty-five percent (25%)
on the following November 1, twenty-five percent (25%)
on the following February 1, and
twenty-five percent (25%) on the following May 1. The funds
shall be distributed to each city and
town and fire district in the same proportion as distributed
in the fiscal year of the phase-out.
(6) When the tax is
phased out to August 1, of the following fiscal year the director of
administration shall calculate to the nearest tenth of one cent ($.001)
the number of cents of sales
tax received for the fiscal year ending June 30, of the
year following the phase-out equal to the
amount of funds distributed to the cities, towns, and fire
districts under this chapter during the
fiscal year following the phase-out and the percent of the
total funds distributed in the fiscal year
following the phase-out received by each city, town, and fire
district, calculated to the nearest
one-hundredth of one percent (0.01%). The director of the
department of administration shall
transmit those calculations to the governor, the speaker of
the house, the president of the senate,
the chairperson of the house finance committee, the
chairperson of the senate finance committee,
the house fiscal advisor, and the senate fiscal advisor.
The number of cents, applied to the sales
taxes received for the prior fiscal year, shall be the
basis for determining the amount of sales tax
to be distributed to the cities and towns and fire
districts under this chapter for second fiscal year
following the phase-out and each year thereafter. The cities
and towns and fire districts shall
receive that amount of sales tax in the proportions
calculated by the director of administration as
that received in the fiscal year following the phase-out.
(7) When the tax is
phased out, twenty-five percent (25%) of the funds shall be
distributed to the cities, towns, and fire districts on August 1,
of the following fiscal year and
every August 1 thereafter; twenty-five percent (25%) shall
be distributed on the following
November 1, and every November 1 thereafter;
twenty-five percent (25%) shall be distributed on
the following February 1, and every February 1 thereafter;
and twenty-five percent (25%) shall be
distributed on the following May 1, and every May 1 thereafter.
(8) For the city of
(25%) shall be distributed on November 1, of the
following fiscal year and every November 1
thereafter, twenty-five percent (25%) shall be distributed on
the following February 1, and every
February 1 thereafter; twenty-five percent (25%) shall
be distributed on the following May 1, and
every May 1 thereafter; and twenty-five percent (25%) of
the funds shall be distributed on the
following August 1, and every August 1 thereafter.
(9) As provided for in
section 44-34-6, the authority of fire districts to tax motor vehicles
is eliminated effective with the year 2000 tax roll and
the state reimbursement for fire districts
shall be based on the provisions of section 44-34-6. All
references to fire districts in this chapter
do not apply to the year 2001 tax roll and thereafter.
(10) For reimbursements
payable in the year ending June 30, 2008 and thereafter, the
director of administration shall discount the calculated value
of the exemption to ninety-eight
percent (98%) in order to establish a collection rate that is
comparable to the collection rate
achieved by municipalities in the levy of the motor vehicle
excise tax.
SECTION 2. Chapter 45-2 of the General Laws entitled
"General Powers" is hereby
amended by adding thereto the following section:
45-2-1.1.
Authorization of every town, city and district to postpone their budgets
and Financial Town Meetings for Fiscal Year 2010-2011. – (a) Notwithstanding any
general or
public law or rule or local charter or ordinance to the
contrary, every city or town council in the
State of
including their financial town meetings for up to ninety (90)
days.
(b) For FY 2010-2011
only, every state or local statute, regulation, ordinance or other
rule that requires related action (for example, the
certifying of a tax roll) shall be extended for
ninety (90) days from the date the statute, regulation,
ordinance or other rule otherwise requires.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02516
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