My way or the Iway? Brown U. mulls Providence expansion
Speaking of Brown, my ace intern Claire Peracchio has a terrific story in today’s Daily Herald that looks at the potential for Providence’s newly cleared Iway land – and the possible sticking points...
View ArticleMaking the case for property taxes across the pond
Everybody hates property taxes – and that’s a good thing in the eyes of Simon Jenkins, a tart-tongued writer who is one of Britain’s best-known newspaper columnists: Throughout Europe and America...
View ArticleItaly follows Providence’s lead, squeezes Vatican for revenue
If you thought Providence’s fight with Brown University was tough, look across the pond. Italy is trying to squeeze more revenue out the most powerful tax-exempt of all – the Vatican: The government of...
View ArticleQ&A: Dean Baker calls tax deal for Superman building ‘crazy’
The iconoclastic liberal economist Dean Baker is famous for discovering the housing bubble years before better-known economists did so. Baker is the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy...
View ArticleSasse: ‘Crony capitalism’ if Superman building gets tax credits
Gary Sasse, the longtime local policymaker who most recently served in the Carcieri administration, is among those who aren’t sure about the idea of providing $40 million or more in state tax credits...
View ArticleProvidence home values drop; tax hike feared
By Dan McGowan PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Providence Mayor Angel Taveras on Monday said he still plans to include a seven-year commercial tax freeze in his 2013-14 budget proposal despite a 13.2%...
View ArticleAlternative study suggests $60M for Superman building
High Rock Development isn’t the only organization putting out studies about the “Superman building” today. The administration of Providence Mayor Angel Taveras quietly released a 95-page study [pdf]...
View ArticleStudy: Providence commercial tax rates highest in the US
Providence has topped a set of national rankings, and Mayor Angel Taveras probably isn’t happy about it. Taxpayers in Rhode Island’s capital city paid the highest commercial property taxes charged in...
View ArticleProv. Councilman offers plan to limit proposed tax hike
By Dan McGowan PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A Providence councilman has proposed a five-point plan to help reduce or prevent a property tax hike, but the Council’s top fiscal advisor said a residential...
View ArticleFor $849K, Congressman Cicilline’s house could be yours
By Dan McGowan There goes the neighborhood. Nearly two months after General Treasurer Gina Raimondo put her Elmgrove Avenue home on the market, Congressman David Cicilline has also decided to move off...
View ArticleCommittee sends Taveras budget to full council without approval
By Dan McGowan PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A City Council committee on Tuesday reluctantly allowed Mayor Angel Taveras’s proposed residential property tax increase to make its way to the full council for...
View ArticleProvidence Council OKs budget; East Side faces tax jump
By Dan McGowan PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The Providence City Council gave final approval Monday to a 2013-14 budget that will increase residential taxes in nearly every neighborhood while freezing...
View ArticleHow city property taxes wallop LaSalle Bakery, Old Canteen
LaSalle Bakery and Joe Marzilli’s Old Canteen are two favorite places for Providence residents to get a bite to eat – though the food might be cheaper if the eateries paid property taxes in Cranston,...
View ArticleProvidence may seize downtown’s decaying Arnold Building
By Dan McGowan PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The Providence City Council is set to give Mayor Angel Taveras the green light to seize a landmark downtown building that’s been decaying for years. Read the...
View ArticleMap: RI gets less from income tax, more from property tax
The Tax Foundation put together a set of maps showing how much of their total revenue state and local governments get from different kinds of taxes, using Census data from the 2009-10 fiscal year. One...
View ArticleIs it time for Providence to tax land rather than buildings?
Downtown Providence is dotted with surface parking lots and empty parcels, to the frustration of urbanists and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, whose March economic plan specifically called for “a new...
View ArticleStudy: Providence commercial taxes again highest in the US
By Ted Nesi PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Taxpayers in Providence paid the highest commercial property taxes charged in any of the nation’s 53 biggest cities for the second year in a row in 2012,...
View ArticleCity panel seeks changes to RI property revaluation process
By Dan McGowan PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A special city commission established to review property values in Providence will ask state lawmakers to allow communities to phase in changes in assessments...
View ArticleCity Council overrides Taveras veto of landlord tax cut
By Dan McGowan PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Landlords in Rhode Island’s capital city will get their tax break, after all. The Providence City Council voted Monday to override Mayor Angel Taveras’s veto of...
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