East Providence Residents to see Tax Rate Changes in Revaluation Year 2019

The Mayor's office has issued a press statement in which they announce the tax rate for the year 2019. Although a new City budget hasn't been developed yet the new rate is based upon a recently completed property revaluation. While the tax rate has actually gone down, most homeowners will see a slight increase due to a higher revaluation.

"The tax rate changes are the result of a statistical revaluation. Per RI General Law 44-5-11.6, cities and towns are required to perform a statistical update every third and sixth year and a full property revaluation every nine years," said Patricia Resende, Project Manager/Executive Mayoral Aide. The statistical update was completed by Vision Government Solutions Inc. The City of East Providence increased in value from $3.75 billion to $4.25 billion. Residents of East Providence will see tax rate changes in the revaluation year. Residents are slated to receive their tax bills during the June 7-9 weekend.

Tax rates for each category (residential, commercial, tangibles and tax levy) will be reduced for fiscal year 2019. In the residential category, the rate will be reduced to $20.02 from $22.88. The commercial tax rate will be reduced from $25.33 to $24.62 and tangibles will be reduced to $56.39 from $56.51. With the rate changes, the average single-family home owner with a home valued at will see an annual increase of 1.5 percent or $68.64.

"The result of this increase will decrease the tax rate. The residential category saw the largest increase in value, which resulted in the largest percentage decrease. The average single-family residence rose approximately 16 percent in value from $200,000 to $232,000. This results in an annual increase of $68.64," said Resende.

Residents with more expensive valued homes, especially those with waterfront homes will see the highest increases. Waterfront homeowners on Narragansett Terrace in Riverside have been complaining loudly and had already filed a lawsuit against the City and Vision Government Solutions Inc. for their property assessment from the last revaluation. A similar action was taken against the Town of Barrington for this company's revaluations by hundreds of Barrington residents in 2008. In that case, a settlement was worked out. Although the home values didn't change a lot in the Barrington case settlement. The challenge from the Riverside residents is still pending.