[Adopted 8-19-1969; amended 12-11-1973; 12-10-1979;
9-14-1982; 6-12-1984 (Ch. 21, Art. II, of the 1985 Code of Ordinances)]
[1]
Editor's Note: State law reference - Freeze
of tax rate and valuation for the elderly, G.L. 1956, § 44-3-16.
[Amended 10-4-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-08]
A.
The Tax Assessor may exempt from taxation and may provide for the
freezing of the rate and valuation of taxes on real property situated
in the Town which is owned and occupied by any one or more persons
over the age of 65 years, regardless of income. Said real estate is
not to be taken from the tax rolls and shall be subject to the bonded
indebtedness of the Town.
B.
The tax freeze on real property shall apply only to single-family
dwellings owned by the taxpayer in which said person resides.
C.
The tax exemption shall be in an amount not exceeding $8,000 of valuation
and which exemption shall be prorated among the owners of said real
property in addition to any and all other exemptions, including the
tax freeze to which said person may be otherwise entitled. The tax
exemption on real property shall apply only to residential dwellings
of fewer than four dwelling units which are owned and occupied by
the eligible taxpayer.
D.
Said tax exemption and application of tax freeze shall be applied
uniformly and without regard to ability to pay, and shall be granted
upon proof of the following:
(1)
Age;
(2)
Ownership of said residential property for a period of five years
next prior to the filing of an application for tax exemption and/or
tax freeze; provided, however, that for a person who acquires ownership
of said residential property after July 21, 2005, the ownership period
shall be 10 years in order to qualify for the tax freeze;
(3)
Occupancy of same;
(4)
Actual legal residency in the Town; and
(5)
Each owner and his/her spouse are not receiving a residency-based
exemption on any property located outside Smithfield.
E.
All individuals with an ownership interest in real property must
satisfy each and every requirement of this article in order for any
exemption and/or freeze to apply to said residential property. If
said residential property is owned by a husband and wife as joint
tenants or tenants by the entirety, then either owner must satisfy
each and every requirement of this article in order for any exemption
and/or freeze to apply to said property. Any owner and/or the spouse
thereof who claims the benefits of a property tax exemption or tax
credit on another property based on residency in a location other
than Smithfield (examples: homestead exemption, veterans exemption,
senior/disability exemption, etc.) shall not be eligible for any exemption
or freeze hereunder.
F.
Any owner of real property who at one time was a resident of the Town but has since transferred ownership of said property shall, after reacquiring ownership of real property, be granted a tax exemption and application of tax freeze upon proof, in addition to that required in Subsection D(1), (3), (4), and (5), of the following: ownership and occupancy of said residential property for at least one year following nonownership for a period not to exceed three years, provided said nonownership period followed five years of continuous ownership and occupancy in order to qualify for the tax exemption and 10 years of continuous ownership and occupancy in order to qualify for the tax freeze.
[Amended 10-4-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-08]
A.
No person shall be entitled to any exemption and/or freeze authorized
in this article in any year without first filing an application with
the Tax Assessor on forms furnished by the Assessor. Each application
shall be sworn to by the applicant or applicants under penalty of
perjury. Proof of age, ownership, occupancy, legal residency, and
ownership of other property shall be furnished in the following manner:
(1)
Proof of age. Age may be proved by furnishing to the Assessor a birth
certificate, certificate of citizenship, baptismal certificate or
affidavit of a third party, or by such other means as may be approved
by the Assessor.
(2)
Ownership. Ownership may be established by furnishing the Tax Assessor
with the date of purchase and land record citation of same by the
applicant of the residential property involved.
(3)
Occupancy. Occupancy of the residential property may be proven by
incorporating such fact in the sworn application for exemption and/or
freeze.
(4)
Legal residency. Legal residency may be established by the production
of a voter's registration certificate, a license to operate a motor
vehicle, some other registration certificate or by such other means
as the Assessor may reasonably require.
(5)
Other forms of proof. An applicant may provide proof of right to
exemption and/or freeze if the above specified methods are not available
to him or her by furnishing a military record, passport, certificate
of citizenship or such other evidence of proof as may be required
by the Assessor.
(6)
Ownership of other property. Should an applicant or his/her spouse
own property outside of Smithfield, proof from that jurisdiction that
no residency-based exemptions are applicable to that property.
B.
In the event that applicants for an exemption or freeze are tenants
in common, joint tenants or tenants by the entirety, the proof enumerated
above by any one of the applicants shall be sufficient to be entitled
to the exemption or freeze. For the purposes of this section, a husband
and wife shall be considered a family unit and thus are eligible to
claim a total of one residency-based exemption between them at any
one time, anywhere.
C.
According to Rhode Island Law, tax situs for vehicles and trailers
shall be in the town or city of permanent abode and Rhode Island Law
also stipulates that any vehicle parked or garaged overnight for more
than 30 days shall be registered in this state. Therefore, the Town
of Smithfield requires each vehicle owned by an applicant and/or his
or her spouse for an exemption or freeze hereunder be registered in
the Town of Smithfield unless satisfactory proof is submitted to the
Tax Assessor that the vehicle may be legally registered elsewhere.
[Amended 10-4-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-08]
A.
No person owning and residing in a multiple-dwelling apartment house,
motel or hotel of over three units shall be eligible to receive the
$8,000 tax exemption provided for in this article, as the same is
hereby deemed to be income-bearing property and not residential as
used herein.
B.
The tax freeze on real property shall apply only to single-family
dwellings owned by the taxpayer in which said person resides.
[Amended 10-4-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-08]
All exemptions and freezes shall terminate upon the conveyance
of the subject property, death of the person or persons exempted or
the moving of such person or persons from the Town.
[Amended 10-4-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-08]
A.
If in a year of revaluation or in any subsequent year wherein the
individual real property tax levy on a specific eligible taxpayer's
property shall fall below that of the prior year, the lesser amount
shall apply. The tax freeze for new applicants shall be based upon
the assessed valuation as of December 31, and the tax rate pertaining
thereto, of the year in which the applicant becomes eligible and files
with the Tax Assessor on or before said December 31. Should the individual
property tax levy on an eligible taxpayer's property in any given
year subsequent to filing fall below that of the prior year, the lesser
amount shall apply.
B.
All applications for either tax exemption and/or tax freeze must
be approved by the Tax Assessor before said exemption and/or freeze
can be certified on the tax roll.
C.
Any applications for the tax exemption and/or tax freeze filed after
December 31 of any year and subsequently approved by the Tax Assessor
shall not be operative until the year succeeding said filing and the
tax exemption and/or tax freeze shall become effective against the
assessment made December 31 following the date of filing.
[Amended 2-4-2014 by Ord.
No. 2014-03]
A.
The Tax Assessor may exempt from taxation the property
of veterans situated in the Town as defined in § 44-3-4
of the General Laws of Rhode Island (1956, as amended) in the amount
of $4,000.
B.
The Tax Assessor may provide for an additional exemption
from taxation on the property of one-hundred-percent disabled veterans
situated in the Town as defined in § 44-3-4 of the General
Laws of Rhode Island (1956, as amended) in the amount of $10,000.
C.
All applications for the above veterans exemptions
must be filed with the office of the Tax Assessor by March 15 in order
for the property owner to be eligible to receive the exemption on
the forthcoming tax bill.
[Amended 2-4-2014 by Ord.
No. 2014-03]
A.
The Tax
Assessor may exempt from taxation the property of gold star parents
situated in the Town as defined in § 44-3-5 of the General
Laws of Rhode Island (1956, as amended) in the amount of $6,000.
B.
All applications
for the gold star parents exemption must be filed with the office
of the Tax Assessor by March 15 in order for the property owner to
be eligible to receive the exemption on the forthcoming tax bill.
Pursuant to § 44-3-3 of the General
Laws of the state, as amended, the following property shall be exempt
from taxation: The household furniture and family stores of a housekeeper
in the whole, including clothing, bedding and other white goods, books
and all other such tangible personal property items which are common
to the normal household, not exceeding $20,000.
[Added 6-18-1991; amended 2-4-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-03]
A.
In addition to the exemptions provided heretofore,
the Tax Assessor may exempt from taxation the property of prisoners-of-war
situated in the Town of Smithfield as defined in § 44-3-4
of the General Laws of Rhode Island (1956, as amended) in the amount
of $15,000.
B.
Said exemption may apply to any veteran of military
or naval service of the United States of America who has been or shall
be classified as, or determined to be, a prisoner-of-war by the Veterans'
Administration of the United States, or the unmarried widow or widower
of such a person.
C.
All applications for the prisoner-of-war exemption
must be filed with the office of the Tax Assessor by March 15 in order
for the property owner to be eligible to receive the exemption on
the forthcoming tax bill.
[Added 11-16-1993]
A.
In addition to the exemptions provided heretofore,
the Tax Assessor may exempt from taxation up to 50% of the value of
any motor vehicle which has been specially adapted with a wheelchair
lift for use by an individual with a disability and which is owned
and registered by any person who has sustained a loss, or permanent
loss of use of both legs or both arms.
B.
This exemption shall apply to not more than one motor
vehicle owned and registered for the person, noncommercial use of
such person.
C.
After the Assessor has allowed an exemption under
this section, no further evidence of the facts required by this section
shall be required in any subsequent year by the Town.
D.
All applications for above exemption must be completed
by March 15 in order to receive the exemption on the forthcoming tax
bill.
[Added 8-12-2003]
A.
Effective for the Town fiscal year commencing July
1, 2004, any resident of the Town of Smithfield who is one-hundred-percent
disabled and unable to work as of the date of the tax assessment shall
be entitled to a tax credit in the amount of $250 to be applied against
the tax levied on his or her real property located in the Town of
Smithfield. Said credit shall be in addition to any exemption(s) provided
for by law to which said person may otherwise he entitled, provided
that the applicant shall be determined by the Social Security Administration
to be totally disabled.
B.
In order to qualify for this credit, the applicant
shall be a Smithfield resident who shall own and reside in the real
estate to which the credit is to be applied as of the time of the
application for the credit and also for a period of not less than
five years immediately preceding the application, provided that only
one tax credit be given per household on a parcel of real estate in
any given year.
C.
Persons eligible for this credit shall file an application
with the Tax Assessor on or before midnight of the 15th day of March
of the year in which the credit is requested on forms to be provided
by the Tax Assessor. It shall be the obligation of the applicant to
establish eligibility for the credit to the Tax Assessor. Any person
receiving the tax credit provided for herein shall be required to
annually submit certified proof of his or her disability on or before
March 15 in each year that the person continues to claim eligibility
for the credit.
[Added 2-16-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-02]
Pursuant to § 39-15-11 of the General Laws of Rhode
Island, the following public water tanks that service properties in
Smithfield shall be exempt from local property taxation:
A.
The
water tank owned by the Lincoln Water Commission which is located
on Plat 45, Lot 83, at 279 Jenckes Hill Road. This exemption shall
commence with taxes assessed as of December 31, 2009.
B.
The
water tank owned by the Greenville Water District which is located
on Plat 47, Lot 58B, at the corner of Colwell and Mapleville Roads.
[Added 4-7-2015 by Ord.
No. 2015-02]
This exemption applies to:
A.
The
additional cost or value of any renewable energy device which is being
utilized as a primary or auxiliary power system for the purpose of
heating or otherwise supplying the energy needs of the property on
which it is located, not to exceed 250 kilowatts.
B.
The
additional cost or value of any renewable energy system in excess
of 250 kilowatts primarily utilized to produce energy for sale beyond
the property, only after a contractual agreement approved by the Town
Council for the amount of property value to be exempt.
