Providence Council Finance Chair Says Elorza on Board with Homestead Exemption
GoLocalProv News Team and Kate Nagle
Providence Council Finance Chair Says Elorza on Board with Homestead Exemption
Igliozzi told GoLocal in a phone interview Friday morning that the Elorza Administration and the City Council are still working on a final exemption amount for a flat homestead exemption -- not two-tiered -- as the Finance Committee is scheduled to Saturday morning at 10 a.m. — and Elorza is in Hawaii for a meeting of the Conference of U.S. Mayors.
The Mayor’s office said only that “budget negotiations are ongoing” on Friday.
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The moves comes after the General Assembly took up legislation to enable the City Council to enact a two-tiered homestead exemption, with the Senate supporting the measure and the House voting down.
City Council leadership, including Council President Sabina Matos and Igliozzi, have said that it is the city’s purview to reinstate a homestead without needing enabling legislation from the state.
As of Thursday, the real estate community led by Residential Properties was urging Elorza to reject the council leaderships' homestead proposal.
“As the Providence City Council and Mayor Jorge Elorza’s administration enter final negotiations on the budget, the real estate professionals at Residential Properties Ltd. urge Elorza to reject the Council’s homestead proposal,” said Residential Properties in a statement. “Plain and simple: The Council proposal to bring back the homestead exemption without real analysis is troubling and will drag our city backwards. Moving away from the homestead six years ago was a small step. Mayor Elorza should reject the Council’s homestead proposal and call for a comprehensive, independent, public process to address Providence’s tax structure and finances.”
The original two-tiered structure, which unveiled by Igliozzi and Matos on June 13, would shift the tax burden to more expensive homes -- and the East Side came out in strong opposition.
At one level, the emerging Providence budget battle is an effort to refine the city's tax structure — trying to find a balance between tax fairness and fiscal responsibility.
But in Providence, nothing is ever quite as it appears. This battle is also the first salvo in the 2022 Providence Mayor’s race as the Majority of the Providence City Council is term-limited out.
Elorza had previously said he believed the City Council leadership's original two-tiered proposal was "illegal"
"The City Council Leadership has been advised that their proposal is illegal and that no other city in the state has such a structure. It is reckless for them to propose this change at the 11th hour and knowingly create significant liability for the city," said the Mayor's office immediately following the unveiling of the plan. "We've told the council repeatedly that we are open to a progressive and responsive tax structure but not one that intentionally and divisively targets one community. I remain committed to working with the council to find a solution but I am strongly opposed to their current plan and the way they have gone about it."