Don’t Tax Me, Don’t Tax Thee… Guest MINDSETTER™ Joe Paolino

Don’t Tax Me, Don’t Tax Thee… Guest MINDSETTER™ Joe Paolino

Here we go again—don’t tax me, don’t tax thee, tax the man behind the tree.

This week, second-home owners across Rhode Island are opening their mailboxes to the new “Taylor Swift tax.” And the question is simple: what exactly are we trying to accomplish?

Because if the goal is to discourage investment, push people to look elsewhere, and make Rhode Island less competitive with our neighboring states—then we’re doing a terrific job.

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But if the goal is to grow the economy, attract residents, and bring jobs here, then this policy completely misses the mark.

Let’s talk about reality.

This tax is expected to generate somewhere in the range of tens of millions of dollars a year—a rounding error in a $14 billion state budget. That’s the upside.

Now let’s talk about the downside.

A Rhode Island resident thinking about buying a summer home in Matunuck or Portsmouth now has a choice: stay here and pay a new annual penalty—or go to the Cape, Mystic, or New Hampshire and pay nothing extra.

Same ocean. Same lifestyle. Different tax bill.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happens next.

And then there’s Newport—one of the true economic engines of our state. For generations, families from New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and beyond have made Newport their second home. They don’t just visit—they invest. They support local businesses. They fund charities like the Preservation Society, Salve Regina, and organizations that sustain our marine and boat-building industries.

They are part of Rhode Island—whether they vote here or not.

So what message are we sending them?

That they’re a target.

And when people feel targeted, they act accordingly. They leave. Or they never come in the first place.

And when they leave, they don’t just take their property tax payments with them. They take their spending, their philanthropy, their networks, and their long-standing ties to this state.

We’ve seen this pattern before.

Is it really a coincidence that high earners—and even prominent Rhode Islanders—even 3 former Governors have chosen to establish residency elsewhere? Or are we just ignoring the obvious?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Rhode Island doesn’t compete in a vacuum. We compete every single day with Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, and New Hampshire—places that are actively trying to attract the very people we seem determined to push away.

And for what?

A relatively small amount of revenue that can easily be erased if even a modest number of people decide to go elsewhere.

That’s not strategy. That’s short-term thinking.

Now, many of us will stay. We have deep roots here—family, businesses, history, and a genuine love for Rhode Island.

But loyalty has limits.

At some point, people start asking a simple question: is it still worth it?

And once that question gets asked often enough, the answers begin to change.

Rhode Island should be a magnet—not a warning sign.

Because eventually, the man behind the tree doesn’t just move.

He takes the whole tree with him.