| Chapter 153 |
| 2025 -- H 5698 Enacted 06/24/2025 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO TAXATION -- LEVY AND ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL TAXES |
Introduced By: Representatives Fogarty, Carson, Hull, Cortvriend, Diaz, Bennett, Speakman, Caldwell, Alzate, and Kazarian |
| Date Introduced: February 26, 2025 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 44-5-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 44-5 entitled "Levy and |
| Assessment of Local Taxes" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 44-5-12. Assessment at full and fair cash value. |
| (a) All real property subject to taxation shall be assessed at its full and fair cash value, as |
| of December 31 in the year of the last update or revaluation, or at a uniform percentage thereof, not |
| to exceed one hundred percent (100%), to be determined by the assessors in each town or city; |
| provided, that: |
| (1) Any residential property encumbered by a covenant recorded in the land records in |
| favor of a governmental unit or the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation |
| restricting either or both the rents that may be charged or the incomes of the occupants shall be |
| assessed and taxed in accordance with § 44-5-13.11; |
| (2) In assessing real estate that is classified as farmland, forest, or open space land in |
| accordance with chapter 27 of this title, the assessors shall consider no factors in determining the |
| full and fair cash value of the real estate other than those that relate to that use without regard to |
| neighborhood land use of a more intensive nature; |
| (3) Warwick. The city council of the city of Warwick is authorized to provide, by |
| ordinance, that the owner of any dwelling of one to three (3) family units in the city of Warwick |
| who makes any improvements or additions on his or her principal place of residence in the amount |
| up to fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), as may be determined by the tax assessor of the city of |
| Warwick, is exempt from reassessment of property taxes on the improvement or addition until the |
| next general citywide reevaluation of property values by the tax assessor. For the purposes of this |
| section, “residence” is defined as voting address. This exemption does not apply to any commercial |
| structure. The property owner shall supply all necessary plans to the building official for the |
| improvements or addition and shall pay all requisite building and other permitting fees as now are |
| required by law; and |
| (4) Central Falls. The city council of the city of Central Falls is authorized to provide, by |
| ordinance, that the owner of any dwelling of one to eight (8) units who makes any improvements |
| or additions to his or her residential or rental property in an amount not to exceed twenty-five |
| thousand dollars ($25,000), as determined by the tax assessor of the city of Central Falls, is exempt |
| from reassessment of property taxes on the improvement or addition until the next general citywide |
| reevaluation of property values by the tax assessor. The property owner shall supply all necessary |
| plans to the building official for the improvements or additions and shall pay all requisite building |
| and other permitting fees as are now required by law. |
| (5) Tangible property shall be assessed according to the asset classification table as defined |
| in § 44-5-12.1. Renewable energy resources shall only be taxed as tangible property under § 44-5- |
| 3(c) and the real property on which they are located shall not be reclassified, revalued, or reassessed |
| due to the presence of renewable energy resources, excepting only reclassification of farmland as |
| addressed in § 44-27-10.1. Subject to the aforementioned exception for farmland, all assessments |
| of real property with renewable energy resources thereon shall revert to the last assessed value |
| immediately prior to the renewable developer’s purchasing, leasing, securing an option to purchase |
| or lease, or otherwise acquiring any interest in the real property. However, notwithstanding the |
| above, but without any limitation on taxpayer rights under § 44-5-26, no municipality shall be liable |
| or otherwise responsible for any rebates, refunds, or any other reimbursements for taxes previously |
| collected for real property with renewable energy resources thereupon. |
| (6) Provided, however, that, for taxes levied after December 31, 2015, new construction on |
| development property is exempt from the assessment of taxes under this chapter at the full and fair |
| cash value of the improvements, as long as: |
| (i) An owner of development property files an affidavit claiming the exemption with the |
| local tax assessor by December 31 each year; and |
| (ii) The assessor shall then determine if the real property on which new construction is |
| located is development property. If the real property is development property, the assessor shall |
| exempt the new construction located on that development property from the collection of taxes on |
| improvements, until such time as the real property no longer qualifies as development property, as |
| defined herein. |
| For the purposes of this section, “development property” means: (A) Real property on |
| which a single-family residential dwelling or residential condominium is situated and said single- |
| family residential dwelling or residential condominium unit is not occupied, has never been |
| occupied, is not under contract, and is on the market for sale; or (B) Improvements and/or |
| rehabilitation of single-family residential dwellings or residential condominiums that the owner of |
| such development property purchased out of a foreclosure sale, auction, or from a bank, and which |
| property is not occupied. Such property described in subsection (a)(6)(ii) of this section shall |
| continue to be taxed at the assessed value at the time of purchase until such time as such property |
| is sold or occupied and no longer qualifies as development property. As to residential |
| condominiums, this exemption shall not affect taxes on the common areas and facilities as set forth |
| in § 34-36-27. In no circumstance shall such designation as development property extend beyond |
| two (2) tax years and a qualification as a development property shall only apply to property that |
| applies for, or receives, construction permits after July 1, 2015. Further, the exemptions set forth |
| in this section shall not apply to land. |
| (7) In assessing real estate that is classified as a low- and moderate-income housing, as |
| defined in § 45-53-3, for the purpose of serving as owner-occupied homeownership units, the |
| assessors shall use the most recent sales price of the property as the assessed value. |
| (b) Municipalities shall make available to every land owner whose property is taxed under |
| the provisions of this section a document that may be signed before a notary public containing |
| language to the effect that they are aware of the additional taxes imposed by the provisions of § 44- |
| 5-39 in the event that they use land classified as farm, forest, or open space land for another purpose. |
| (c) Pursuant to the provisions of § 44-3-29.1, all wholesale and retail inventory subject to |
| taxation is assessed at its full and fair cash value, or at a uniform percentage of its value, not to |
| exceed one hundred percent (100%), for fiscal year 1999, by the assessors in each town and city. |
| Once the fiscal year 1999 value of the inventory has been assessed, this value shall not increase. |
| The phase-out rate schedule established in § 44-3-29.1(d) applies to this fixed value in each year |
| of the phase out. |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC001874 |
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