R.I. Gen. Laws § 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 revaluation, statistical revaluation
or update thereto, or at a uniform percentage thereof, not to exceed one hundred percent
(100%), with such value to be determined by the assessors in each town or city. There
shall be no adjustment to an assessment because of an increase or decrease in such
value as a result of market forces in years when there is no revaluation, statistical
revaluation, or update thereto. It is further 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. Subject to the exemption for reclassification of farmland as addressed in § 44-27-10.1, 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 only be taxed at three dollars
and fifty cents ($3.50) per kilowatt of alternating current nameplate capacity. 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.
(8) The office of energy resources shall promulgate regulations for the determination
of full and fair cash value for facilities for the generation of electricity from
natural gas designed or capable of operating at a gross capacity of forty megawatts
(40 MW) or more. Such regulations shall take effect beginning in fiscal year 2027.
(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.