NEWS

No car tax bill? Don’t worry

Posted 7/6/22

By JOHN HOWELL

So, you didn’t get a tax bill for your car. Did the city screw up, was it the Post Office or did the dog eat it? None of the above.

There are no car tax bills this year and …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in
NEWS

No car tax bill? Don’t worry

Posted

By JOHN HOWELL


So, you didn’t get a tax bill for your car. Did the city screw up, was it the Post Office or did the dog eat it? None of the above.

There are no car tax bills this year and unless state legislators change things, motor vehicle excise taxes are a thing of the past.

That hasn’t stopped people from calling the city to find out why they didn’t get a bill. Neal Dupuis, City Tax Assessor, is one of those answering those calls. Passing along such good news isn’t a tough job. 

People are delighted, reports Dupuis.

People should also be happy, as Mayor Frank Picozzi observes, that taxes haven’t increased this year. The Post Office started delivering real estate, tangible personal property and commercial property tax bills last week. Not only did tax rates remain the same but so too did property assessments that had been scheduled to reflect values as of Dec. 31, 2021. Due to the overheated housing market ignited during the pandemic, Picozzi and the City Council requested a postponement of the scheduled statistical revaluation.  The new values would have been used to determine this year’s taxes. The request was approved by the General Assembly.

Dupuis reaffirmed it was the right move in an interview Tuesday.

Had the Dec. 31, 2021, values been used, they would have been at the height of an unstable market. He said the housing market is starting to stabilize as prices adjust with a growing inventory of houses for sale. During the peak of the home buying frenzy, Dupuis said the inventory of homes for sale bottomed at about 65. Today the inventory is 100 homes and inching toward the pre-pandemic number of 250. On average, more than 100 single-family Warwick homes or a tenth of all single-family homes sold statewide sell monthly.

Even though the Rhode Island Association of Realtors reports an increase in the June year to year median price of Warwick homes from $310,000 to $376,000, Dupuis sees prices coming down. He’s not seeing bidding wars for houses and – with mortgage interest rates doubling – the market is cooling. 

Furthermore, Dupuis doesn’t consider the association report a reliable gauge of the market because of the diversity of housing in this part of the country. He points out to be accurate the comparison would need to be made between the sales price of the same or closely identical houses from month to month. Dupuis said could work in parts of the country with large developments of virtually the same house, but not here.

Meanwhile, the assessors’ office is preparing for the implementation of the revaluation as of this December as the basis for next year’s tax bills. Dupuis said data generated for the 2021 revaluation is being “adjusted” with the final adjustment coming December 31 to reflect values as of that date. 

Taxpayers would have received motor vehicle tax bills this year had it not been for the General Assembly leadership and governor who decided to accelerate the phase out of the tax. The state reimburses the city and will continue to reimburse the city annually for the more than $22 million in revenues generated by the tax.

Dupuis said the city issued 38,515 real estate property tax bills on property with a total value of $9.9 billion and 3,407 bill on tangible personal property valued at $592.6 million. He was able to generate totals for commercial property at this time. 

The first quarterly tax payment is due July 15. Interest on late payments is not applied until after July 30, Dupuis said.

taxes, tax bills

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here