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:

{ADD 44-5-12. Assessment at full and fair cash value. -- ADD} All property liable to taxation shall be assessed at its full and fair cash value, or at a uniform percentage thereof, not to exceed one hundred percent (100%), to be determined by the assessors in each town or city: {ADD provided, however, that any residential property encumbered by a covenant recorded in the land records in favor of a governmental unit or 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 section 44-5-13.11 hereof: ADD} provided, however, that in assessing real estate which is classified as farm land, 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 which relate to such a use without regard to neighborhood land use of a more intensive nature, provided, however, the city council of the city of Warwick is hereby authorized to provide by ordinance that the owner of any dwelling of one (1) 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, shall be exempt from reassessment of property taxes on such improvement or addition until the next general citywide re-evaluation of property values by the tax assessor. For the purposes of this section, "residence" shall be defined as voting address. This exemption shall not apply to any commercial structure. The property owner shall supply all necessary plans to the building official for such improvements or addition and shall pay all requisite building and other permitting fees as now are required by law.

Municipalities shall make available to every land owner whose property is taxed under the provisions of this section a document which 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 section 44-5-39 in the event that they use land classified as farm, forest or open space land for another purpose.

SECTION 2. Chapter 44-5 of the General Laws entitled "Levy and Assessment of Local Taxes" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

{ADD 44-5-13.11. Assessment and taxation of qualifying low income housing. -- ADD} {ADD Any residential property that has been issued an occupancy permit on or after January 1, 1995 after substantial rehabilitation as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is encumbered by a covenant recorded in the land records in favor of a governmental unit or Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation restricting either or both the rents that may be charged to tenants of the property or the incomes of the occupants of the property shall be subject to a tax that equals eight percent (8%) of the property's previous years' gross scheduled rental income or a lesser percentage as determined by each municipality. ADD}

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.