Richmond Tax Rate NOT the Second-Highest in R.I.

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA
November 10th 2023

RICHMOND – In familiar refrain, Town Council member Michael Colasante continues to state that Richmond’s property tax rate is the second-highest in Rhode Island. But research conducted independently for this article (with current 2023 data from each city and town’s official website) shows that when compared to the taxes in other cities and towns, Richmond’s tax rate is, in fact, closer to the middle than to the top.

As recently as the Nov. 6 Town Council meeting, Colasante repeated his tax burden claim, objecting to the council’s rejection of his proposal to re-open bidding for the Town Hall emergency generator after the bidding had taken place and the winning company had been announced.

Colasante repeated his assertion twice.

“Unfortunately, we’re the second-highest burdened tax town in the state, and it’s always my idea to try and save the taxpayers money,” he said.

About four minutes later, still referring to the generator bid, he stated,

“That’s why we’re the second-highest property burden town in the state.”

Colasante appears to be basing his assertion on a 2022 study, using data from 2021, by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC). On page 33 of the study, there is a table showing the “tax burden for homeowners with $319,000 in assessed property value,” and Richmond, with a rate of $20.58, is indeed second on that list, with West Warwick at the top.

But that was two years ago, and the tax rate is lower now.

When The Rhode Island Department of Revenue did not provide an updated list of cities’ and towns’ property tax rates, BRVCA was left to do its own research, surveying every municipality in the state to determine their 2023 property tax rates. The result of that research is the table included in this story, and it shows that Richmond, with a tax rate of $14.76, is not even close to having the second-highest tax rate, coming in 16th on the list of 39.

Town Council President Mark Trimmer said the repeated use of out-of-date figures was an attempt by the opposition to create a scenario that would anger taxpayers.

“I feel that the angry Republicans had tried to create a false narrative regarding Richmond taxes to keep people angry and unhappy with the town and its services, and I think it’s great that someone took the time to do the research to determine that it was a false narrative and hopefully, it puts the false narrative to rest,” he said.

Trimmer also noted that he felt that the taxes on his Richmond home are not excessive.

“The taxes on my home are very reasonable, I feel, much more reasonable than when I lived in East Greenwich or Warwick, and it’s a much better quality of life and to me, this is good news and just reinforces why I moved to Richmond,” he said.

Mark Reynolds, who chairs Richmond’s Board of Tax Assessment Review, said the newest figures showed Richmond’s property taxes are reasonable compared to those in other municipalities.

“We are not out of line with other cities and towns,” he said. “No one likes taxes. Everyone wants their taxes lower, but those statistics show that we are doing our best to keep the taxes reasonable for people.”