LISTEN: Fire Districts Break Property Tax Cap
Thursday, May 16, 2013
More than half the fire districts in Rhode Island exceeded the statewide property tax cap at least once in the last three years, according to new data obtained from the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council.
Under state law, cities and towns may only increase their tax levies by a certain percent each year, ranging from 5.5 percent when the law first took effect in 2007 to 4 percent in the current fiscal year. But the law omits any mention of fire districts, a loophole that leaves nearly two hundred thousand Rhode Islanders unprotected from potentially steep increases.
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