Providence's East Siders Organizing to Fight New Tax Structure

Providence's East Siders Organizing to Fight New Tax Structure

Residents on Providence East Side are organizing to fight against a new tax structure being prepared by Providence City Council Finance Chairman John Igliozzi which has yet to be unveiled, but is expected to increase taxes on the city's most valuable homes which are predominately located on the affluent East Side.

"As it stands, the proposal levies a higher tax on owners of higher-priced homes (ie: the East Side) in an effort to lower the burden for other areas of the City, whose assessments have gone up dramatically. This tiered tax break that John Igliozzi is proposing is 50% to lower assessed homes, to 10% to the highest valued homes. Most of the East Side would have less than a 50% deduction, and owners who are given a 10 or 20% break would face major taxes," writes John Goncalves, an East Sider organizing opposition to a new tax structure.

Providence Councilman Seth Yurdin who represents Providence's Fox Point area and much of Brown University wrote in a separate letter, "These reported changes are a dramatic departure from the city's historic taxation practices. If adopted, they would effectively create a variable rate for owner-occupied residential property - with higher value properties being taxed a higher rate. There are more questions than answers right now. What are the proposed rates? We don't know. What are the effects on the city's current and future budget? No answer there. What are the long-term economic impacts on our neighborhood and tax base? Obviously, those have not been considered."

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"And perhaps most importantly, why raise the issue at the 11th hour? Just weeks before the City is required to pass its budget and only after the City's Finance Committee held its required public hearing?" adds Yurdin.

Critical Finance Meeting Thursday

On Tuesday, Igliozzi who represents the Silver Lake area told GoLocal in an interview that the City Council is looking at changing the city’s residential tax structure to just one rate — and going “back to a homestead exemption” for the coming fiscal year in order to address the city’s budgetary needs." 

“Right now we are working collaboratively together,” said Igliozzi, of working with City Council — and administration of Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza -- on putting forth a new tax structure. ‘The proposed model is going to one rate and going back to the homestead exemption. You will see [more details] in the near future,” said Igliozzi.

But, Goncalves says Igliozzi's plan will hit the elderly the hardest. "It will adversely affect anyone who has a property of over $250,000, and will push out our neighbors, especially our most vulnerable, elderly residents, who are on a fixed budget and whose property value is being treated as income," he says.

The Igliozzi tax plan will be unveiled on Thursday at Providence City Hall when the Finance Committee meets at 5 pm on the 3rd floor in Room B.

"We need to act now...The budget must be approved by July 1, but could be passed anytime," warned Goncalves.

One underlying political issue may be that none of the East Side Council members are supporters of City Council's leadership. Yurdin, Ward 2 Councilwoman Helen Anthony and Ward 3 Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune all opposed the leadership team of Council President Sabina Matos and Igliozzi. 

Igliozzi and Matos issued a statement claiming that if the status quo continues, poorer neighborhoods will be taxed disproportionately.

Their joint statement reads:

"The City Council received the Mayor’s budget at the end of April, and are working through the budgeting process. This includes vetting various portions of the budget and working collaboratively with the administration to create a budget that serves all residents. Both the Council and the administration are doing modeling to find the most equitable way to address the revaluations, that in some cases were disproportionately higher in certain neighborhoods. City Council members were briefed on a proposal for tax relief to garner their feedback, and at this time any information that has been relayed does not reflect that proposal.

The Committee on Finance meets often during the budgeting season and is open to the public, and we encourage residents to come and take part. We believe in transparency and being open in our discussions. Our goal as the City Council is to ensure that all neighborhoods have an equitable seat at the table, and during this process, we will continue to explore all options to keep taxes down, while our obligations as a city continue to rise."