R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-7-12 — Action for recovery of tax

(a) The collector of any tax may recover the amount of the tax in an action against the
person taxed, and in the complaint it shall be sufficient to set forth that the action
is to recover a specified sum of money, being a tax assessed against the defendant,
specifying the city or town in which the tax was assessed and the time of ordering
and assessing the tax.
(b) The court may award a reasonable attorney’s fee to the prevailing party in any civil
action arising from the collection of a municipal tax levy in which the court:
(1) Finds that there was a complete absence of a justiciable issue of either law or fact
raised by the losing party; or
(2) Renders a default judgment against the losing party.