2016 -- S 3076 | |
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LC006176 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO TAXATION -- PROPERTY SUBJECT TO TAXATION | |
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Introduced By: Senator Maryellen Goodwin | |
Date Introduced: June 09, 2016 | |
Referred To: Senate Finance | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 44-3-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 44-3 entitled "Property |
2 | Subject to Taxation" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 44-3-3. Property exempt. -- (a) The following property is exempt from taxation. |
4 | (1) Property belonging to the state except as provided in § 44-4-4.1; |
5 | (2) Lands ceded or belonging to the United States; |
6 | (3) Bonds and other securities issued and exempted from taxation by the government of |
7 | the United States or of this state; |
8 | (4) Real estate, used exclusively for military purposes, owned by chartered or |
9 | incorporated organizations approved by the adjutant general and composed of members of the |
10 | national guard, the naval militia, or the independent chartered military organizations; |
11 | (5) Buildings for free public schools, buildings for religious worship, and the land upon |
12 | which they stand and immediately surrounding them, to an extent not exceeding five (5) acres so |
13 | far as the buildings and land are occupied and used exclusively for religious or educational |
14 | purposes; |
15 | (6) Dwellings houses and the land on which they stand, not exceeding one acre in size, |
16 | or the minimum lot size for zone in which the dwelling house is located, whichever is the greater, |
17 | owned by, or held in trust for, any religious organization and actually used by its officiating |
18 | clergy; provided, further, that in the town of Charlestown, where the property previously |
19 | described in this paragraph is exempt in total, along with dwelling houses and the land on which |
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1 | they stand in Charlestown, not exceeding one acre in size, or the minimum lot size for zone in |
2 | which the dwelling house is located, whichever is the greater, owned by, or held in trust for, any |
3 | religious organization and actually used by its officiating clergy, or used as a convent, nunnery, or |
4 | retreat center by its religious order. |
5 | (7) Intangible personal property owned by, or held in trust for, any religious or charitable |
6 | organization, if the principal or income is used or appropriated for religious or charitable |
7 | purposes; |
8 | (8) Buildings and personal estate owned by any corporation used for a school, academy, |
9 | or seminary of learning, and of any incorporated public charitable institution, and the land upon |
10 | which the buildings stand and immediately surrounding them to an extent not exceeding one acre, |
11 | so far as they are used exclusively for educational purposes, but no property or estate whatever is |
12 | hereafter exempt from taxation in any case where any part of its income or profits, or of the |
13 | business carried on there, is divided among its owners or stockholders; provided, however, that |
14 | unless any private nonprofit corporation organized as a college or university located in the town |
15 | of Smithfield reaches a memorandum of agreement with the town of Smithfield, the town of |
16 | Smithfield shall bill the actual costs for police, fire, and rescue services supplied, unless |
17 | otherwise reimbursed, to said corporation commencing March 1, 2014; |
18 | (9) Estates, persons, and families of the president and professors for the time being of |
19 | Brown University for not more than ten thousand dollars ($ 10,000) for each officer, the officer's |
20 | estate, person, and family included, but only to the extent that any person had claimed and |
21 | utilized the exemption prior to, and for a period ending, either on or after December 31, 1996; |
22 | (10) Property especially exempt by charter unless the exemption has been waived in |
23 | whole or in part. |
24 | (11) Lots of land exclusively for burial grounds; |
25 | (12) Property, real and personal, held for, or by, an incorporated library, society, or any |
26 | free public library, or any free public library society, so far as the property is held exclusively for |
27 | library purposes, or for the aid or support of the aged poor, or poor friendless children, or the poor |
28 | generally, or for a nonprofit hospital for the sick or disabled; |
29 | (13) Real or personal estate belonging to, or held in trust for, the benefit of incorporated |
30 | organizations of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged, the parent |
31 | body of which has been incorporated by act of Congress, to the extent of four hundred thousand |
32 | dollars ($ 400,000) if actually used and occupied by the association; provided, that the city |
33 | council of the city of Cranston may by ordinance exempt the real or personal estate as previously |
34 | described in this subdivision located within the city of Cranston to the extent of five hundred |
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1 | thousand dollars ($500,000); |
2 | (14) Property, real and personal, held for, or by, the fraternal corporation, association, or |
3 | body created to build and maintain a building or buildings for its meetings or the meetings of the |
4 | general assembly of its members, or subordinate bodies of the fraternity, and for the |
5 | accommodation of other fraternal bodies or associations, the entire net income of which real and |
6 | personal property is exclusively applied or to be used to build, furnish, and maintain an asylum or |
7 | asylums, a home or homes, a school or schools, for the free education or relief of the members of |
8 | the fraternity, or the relief, support, and care of worthy and indigent members of the fraternity, |
9 | their wives, widows, or orphans, and any fund given or held for the purpose of public education, |
10 | almshouses, and the land and buildings used in connection therewith; |
11 | (15) Real estate and personal property of any incorporated volunteer fire engine |
12 | company or incorporated volunteer ambulance or rescue corps in active service; |
13 | (16) The estate of any person who, in the judgment of the assessors, is unable from |
14 | infirmity or poverty to pay the tax; providing, that in the town of Burrillville the tax shall |
15 | constitute a lien for five (5) years on the property where the owner is entitled to the exemption. At |
16 | the expiration of five (5) years, the lien shall be abated in full. Provided, if the property is sold or |
17 | conveyed, or if debt secured by the property is refinanced during the five (5) year period, the lien |
18 | immediately becomes due and payable; any person claiming the exemption aggrieved by an |
19 | adverse decision of an assessor shall appeal the decision to the local board of tax review and |
20 | thereafter according to the provisions of § 44-5-26; |
21 | (17) Household furniture and family stores of a housekeeper in the whole, including |
22 | clothing, bedding, and other white goods, books, and all other tangible personal property items |
23 | that are common to the normal household; |
24 | (18) Improvements made to any real property to provide a shelter and fallout protection |
25 | from nuclear radiation, to the amount of one thousand five hundred dollars ($ 1,500); provided, |
26 | that the improvements meet applicable standards for shelter construction established from time to |
27 | time by the Rhode Island emergency management agency. The improvements are deemed to |
28 | comply with the provisions of any building code or ordinance with respect to the materials or the |
29 | methods of construction used and any shelter or its establishment is deemed to comply with the |
30 | provisions of any zoning code or ordinance; |
31 | (19) Aircraft for which the fee required by § 1-4-6 has been paid to the tax administrator; |
32 | (20) Manufacturer's inventory |
33 | (i) For the purposes of §§ 44-4-10, 44-5-3, 44-5-20, and 44-5-38, a person is deemed to |
34 | be a manufacturer within a city or town within this state if that person uses any premises, room, |
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1 | or place in it primarily for the purpose of transforming raw materials into a finished product for |
2 | trade through any or all of the following operations: adapting, altering, finishing, making, and |
3 | ornamenting; provided, that public utilities; non-regulated power producers commencing |
4 | commercial operation by selling electricity at retail or taking title to generating facilities on or |
5 | after July 1, 1997; building and construction contractors; warehousing operations, including |
6 | distribution bases or outlets of out-of-state manufacturers; and fabricating processes incidental to |
7 | warehousing or distribution of raw materials, such as alteration of stock for the convenience of a |
8 | customer; are excluded from this definition; |
9 | (ii) For the purposes of §§ 44-3-3, 44-4-10, and 44-5-38, the term "manufacturer's |
10 | inventory" or any similar term means and includes the manufacturer's raw materials, the |
11 | manufacturer's work in process, and finished products manufactured by the manufacturer in this |
12 | state, and not sold, leased, or traded by the manufacturer or its title or right to possession |
13 | divested; provided, that the term does not include any finished products held by the manufacturer |
14 | in any retail store or other similar selling place operated by the manufacturer whether or not the |
15 | retail establishment is located in the same building in which the manufacturer operates the |
16 | manufacturing plant; |
17 | (iii) For the purpose of § 44-11-2, a "manufacturer" is a person whose principal business |
18 | in this state consists of transforming raw materials into a finished product for trade through any or |
19 | all of the operations described in paragraph (i) of this subdivision. A person will be deemed to be |
20 | principally engaged if the gross receipts that person derived from the manufacturing operations in |
21 | this state during the calendar year or fiscal year mentioned in § 44-11-1 amounted to more than |
22 | fifty percent (50%) of the total gross receipts that person derived from all the business activities |
23 | in which that person engaged in this state during the taxable year. For the purpose of computing |
24 | the percentage, gross receipts derived by a manufacturer from the sale, lease, or rental of finished |
25 | products manufactured by the manufacturer in this state, even though the manufacturer's store or |
26 | other selling place may be at a different location from the location of the manufacturer's |
27 | manufacturing plant in this state, are deemed to have been derived from manufacturing; |
28 | (iv) Within the meaning of the preceding paragraphs of this subdivision, the term |
29 | "manufacturer" also includes persons who are principally engaged in any of the general activities |
30 | coded and listed as establishments engaged in manufacturing in the Standard Industrial |
31 | Classification Manual prepared by the Technical Committee on Industrial Classification, Office |
32 | of Statistical Standards, Executive Office of the President, United States Bureau of the Budget, as |
33 | revised from time to time, but eliminating as manufacturers those persons, who, because of their |
34 | limited type of manufacturing activities, are classified in the manual as falling within the trade |
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1 | rather than an industrial classification of manufacturers. Among those thus eliminated, and |
2 | accordingly also excluded as manufacturers within the meaning of this paragraph, are persons |
3 | primarily engaged in selling, to the general public, products produced on the premises from which |
4 | they are sold, such as neighborhood bakeries, candy stores, ice cream parlors, shade shops, and |
5 | custom tailors, except, that a person who manufactures bakery products for sale primarily for |
6 | home delivery, or through one or more non-baking retail outlets, and whether or not retail outlets |
7 | are operated by person, is a manufacturer within the meaning of this paragraph; |
8 | (v) The term "Person" means and includes, as appropriate, a person, partnership, or |
9 | corporation; and |
10 | (vi) The department of revenue shall provide to the local assessors any assistance that is |
11 | necessary in determining the proper application of the definitions in this subdivision. |
12 | (21) Real and tangible personal property acquired to provide a treatment facility used |
13 | primarily to control the pollution or contamination of the waters or the air of the state, as defined |
14 | in chapter 12 of title 46 and chapter 25 of title 23, respectively, the facility having been |
15 | constructed, reconstructed, erected, installed, or acquired in furtherance of federal or state |
16 | requirements or standards for the control of water or air pollution or contamination, and certified |
17 | as approved in an order entered by the director of environmental management. The property is |
18 | exempt as long as it is operated properly in compliance with the order of approval of the director |
19 | of environmental management; provided, that any grant of the exemption by the director of |
20 | environmental management in excess of ten (10) years is approved by the city or town in which |
21 | the property is situated. This provision applies only to water and air pollution control properties |
22 | and facilities installed for the treatment of waste waters and air contaminants resulting from |
23 | industrial processing; furthermore, it applies only to water or air pollution control properties and |
24 | facilities placed in operation for the first time after April 13, 1970; |
25 | (22) New manufacturing machinery and equipment acquired or used by a manufacturer |
26 | and purchased after December 31, 1974. Manufacturing machinery and equipment is defined as: |
27 | (i) Machinery and equipment used exclusively in the actual manufacture or conversion |
28 | of raw materials or goods in the process of manufacture by a manufacturer, as defined in |
29 | subdivision (20) of this section, and machinery, fixtures, and equipment used exclusively by a |
30 | manufacturer for research and development or for quality assurance of its manufactured products; |
31 | (ii) Machinery and equipment that is partially used in the actual manufacture or |
32 | conversion of raw materials or goods in process of manufacture by a manufacturer, as defined in |
33 | subdivision (20) of this section, and machinery, fixtures, and equipment used by a manufacturer |
34 | for research and development or for quality assurance of its manufactured products, to the extent |
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1 | to which the machinery and equipment is used for the manufacturing processes, research and |
2 | development, or quality assurance. In the instances where machinery and equipment is used in |
3 | both manufacturing and/or research and development, and/or quality assurance activities and non- |
4 | manufacturing activities, the assessment on machinery and equipment is prorated by applying the |
5 | percentage of usage of the equipment for the manufacturing, research and development and |
6 | quality assurance activity to the value of the machinery and equipment for purposes of taxation, |
7 | and the portion of the value used for manufacturing, research and development, and quality |
8 | assurance is exempt from taxation. The burden of demonstrating this percentage usage of |
9 | machinery and equipment for manufacturing and for research and development, and/or quality |
10 | assurance of its manufactured products rests with the manufacturer; and |
11 | (iii) Machinery and equipment described in § 44-18-30(7) and (22) that was purchased |
12 | after July 1, 1997; provided that the city or town council of the city or town in which the |
13 | machinery and equipment is located adopts an ordinance exempting the machinery and equipment |
14 | from taxation. For purposes of this subsection, city councils and town councils of any |
15 | municipality may, by ordinance, wholly or partially exempt from taxation the machinery and |
16 | equipment discussed in this subsection for the period of time established in the ordinance and |
17 | may, by ordinance, establish the procedures for taxpayers to avail themselves of the benefit of |
18 | any exemption permitted under this section; provided, that the ordinance does not apply to any |
19 | machinery or equipment of a business, subsidiary, or any affiliated business that locates or |
20 | relocates from a city or town in this state to another city or town in the state. |
21 | (23) Precious metal bullion, meaning any elementary metal that has been put through a |
22 | process of melting or refining, and that is in a state or condition that its value depends upon its |
23 | content and not its form. The term does not include fabricated precious metal that has been |
24 | processed or manufactured for some one or more specific and customary industrial, professional, |
25 | or artistic uses; |
26 | (24) Hydroelectric power generation equipment, which includes, but is not limited to, |
27 | turbines, generators, switchgear, controls, monitoring equipment, circuit breakers, transformers, |
28 | protective relaying, bus bars, cables, connections, trash racks, headgates, and conduits. The |
29 | hydroelectric power generation equipment must have been purchased after July 1, 1979, and |
30 | acquired or used by a person or corporation who or that owns or leases a dam and utilizes the |
31 | equipment to generate hydroelectric power; |
32 | (25) Subject to authorization by formal action of the council of any city or town, any real |
33 | or personal property owned by, held in trust for, or leased to an organization incorporated under |
34 | chapter 6 of title 7, as amended, or an organization meeting the definition of "charitable trust" set |
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1 | out in § 18-9-4, as amended, or an organization incorporated under the not for profits statutes of |
2 | another state or the District of Columbia, the purpose of which is the conserving of open space, as |
3 | that term is defined in chapter 36 of title 45, as amended, provided the property is used |
4 | exclusively for the purposes of the organization; |
5 | (26) Tangible personal property, the primary function of which is the recycling, reuse, or |
6 | recovery of materials (other than precious metals, as defined in § 44-18-30(24)(ii) and (iii)), from |
7 | or the treatment of "hazardous wastes" as defined in § 23-19.1-4, where the "hazardous wastes" |
8 | are generated primarily by the same taxpayer and where the personal property is located at, in, or |
9 | adjacent to a generating facility of the taxpayer. The taxpayer may, but need not, procure an order |
10 | from the director of the department of environmental management certifying that the tangible |
11 | personal property has this function, which order effects a conclusive presumption that the tangible |
12 | personal property qualifies for the exemption under this subdivision. If any information relating |
13 | to secret processes or methods of manufacture, production, or treatment is disclosed to the |
14 | department of environmental management only to procure an order, and is a "trade secret" as |
15 | defined in § 28-21-10(b), it shall not be open to public inspection or publicly disclosed unless |
16 | disclosure is otherwise required under chapter 21 of title 28 or chapter 24.4 of title 23; |
17 | (27) Motorboats as defined in § 46-22-2 for which the annual fee required in § 46-22-4 |
18 | has been paid; |
19 | (28) Real and personal property of the Providence Performing Arts Center, a non- |
20 | business corporation as of December 31, 1986; |
21 | (29) Tangible personal property owned by, and used exclusively for the purposes of, any |
22 | religious organization located in the city of Cranston; |
23 | (30) Real and personal property of the Travelers Aid Society of Rhode Island, a |
24 | nonprofit corporation, the Union Mall Real Estate Corporation, and any limited partnership or |
25 | limited liability company that is formed in connection with, or to facilitate the acquisition of, the |
26 | Providence YMCA Building; and |
27 | (31) Real and personal property of Meeting Street Center or MSC Realty, Inc., both not- |
28 | for-profit Rhode Island corporations, and any other corporation, limited partnership, or limited |
29 | liability company that is formed in connection with, or to facilitate the acquisition of, the |
30 | properties designated as the Meeting Street National Center of Excellence on Eddy Street in |
31 | Providence, Rhode Island. |
32 | (32) The buildings, personal property, and land upon which the buildings stand, located |
33 | on Pomham Island, East Providence, currently identified as Assessor's Map 211, Block 01, Parcel |
34 | 001.00, that consists of approximately twenty-one thousand three hundred (21,300) square feet |
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1 | and is located approximately eight hundred sixty feet (860'), more or less, from the shore, and |
2 | limited exclusively to these said buildings personal estate and land, provided that said property is |
3 | owned by a qualified 501(c)(3) organization, such as the American Lighthouse Foundation, and is |
4 | used exclusively for a lighthouse. |
5 | (33) The Stadium Theatre Performing Arts Centre building located in Monument Square, |
6 | Woonsocket, Rhode Island, so long as said Stadium Theatre Performing Arts Center is owned by |
7 | the Stadium Theatre Foundation, a Rhode Island nonprofit corporation. |
8 | (34) Real and tangible personal property of St. Mary Academy -- Bay View, located in |
9 | East Providence, Rhode Island. |
10 | (35) Real and personal property of East Bay Community Action Program and its |
11 | predecessor, Self Help, Inc; provided, that the organization is qualified as a tax exempt |
12 | corporation under § 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. |
13 | (36) Real and personal property located within the city of East Providence of the |
14 | Columbus Club of East Providence, a Rhode Island charitable nonprofit corporation. |
15 | (37) Real and personal property located within the city of East Providence of the |
16 | Columbus Club of Barrington, a Rhode Island charitable nonprofit corporation. |
17 | (38) Real and personal property located within the city of East Providence of Lodge |
18 | 2337 BPO Elks, a Rhode Island nonprofit corporation. |
19 | (39) Real and personal property located within the city of East Providence of the St. |
20 | Andrews Lodge No. 39, a Rhode Island charitable nonprofit corporation. |
21 | (40) Real and personal property located within the city of East Providence of the |
22 | Trustees of Methodist Health and Welfare service a/k/a United Methodist Elder Care, a Rhode |
23 | Island nonprofit corporation. |
24 | (41) Real and personal property located on the first floor of 90 Leonard Avenue within |
25 | the city of East Providence of the Zion Gospel Temple, Inc., a religious nonprofit corporation. |
26 | (42) Real and personal property located within the city of East Providence of the Cape |
27 | Verdean Museum Exhibit, a Rhode Island nonprofit corporation. |
28 | (43) The real and personal property owned by a qualified 501(c)(3) organization that is |
29 | affiliated and in good standing with a national, congressionally chartered organization and |
30 | thereby adheres to that organization's standards and provides activities designed for recreational, |
31 | educational, and character building purposes for children from ages six (6) years to seventeen |
32 | (17) years. |
33 | (44) Real and personal property of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and Music |
34 | School; provided, that the organization is qualified as a tax exempt corporation under § 501(c)(3) |
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1 | of the United States Internal Revenue Code. |
2 | (45) The real and personal property located within the town of West Warwick at 211 |
3 | Cowesett Avenue, Plat 29-Lot 25, which consists of approximately twenty-eight thousand seven |
4 | hundred and fifty (28,750) square feet and is owned by the Station Fire Memorial Foundation of |
5 | East Greenwich, a Rhode Island nonprofit corporation. |
6 | (46) Real and personal property of the Comprehensive Community Action Program, a |
7 | qualified tax exempt corporation under § 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. |
8 | (47) Real and personal property located at 52 Plain Street, within the city of Pawtucket |
9 | of the Pawtucket Youth Soccer Association, a Rhode Island nonprofit corporation. |
10 | (48) Real and personal property of Home Care & Hospice of New England, a Rhode |
11 | Island nonprofit corporation, its successors and affiliates, each a qualified tax exempt corporation |
12 | under §501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. |
13 | (b) Except as provided below, when a city or town taxes a for-profit hospital facility, the |
14 | value of its real property shall be the value determined by the most recent full revaluation or |
15 | statistical property update performed by the city or town; provided, however, in the year a |
16 | nonprofit hospital facility converts to or otherwise becomes a for-profit hospital facility, or a for- |
17 | profit hospital facility is initially established, the value of the real property and personal property |
18 | of the for-profit hospital facility shall be determined by a valuation performed by the assessor for |
19 | the purpose of determining an initial assessed value of real and personal property, not previously |
20 | taxed by the city or town, as of the most recent date of assessment pursuant to § 44-5-1, subject to |
21 | a right of appeal by the for-profit hospital facility which shall be made to the city or town tax |
22 | assessor with a direct appeal from an adverse decision to the Rhode Island superior court business |
23 | calendar. |
24 | A "for-profit hospital facility" includes all real and personal property affiliated with any |
25 | hospital as identified in an application filed pursuant to chapters 23-17 and/or 23-17.14. |
26 | Notwithstanding the above, a city or town may enter into a stabilization agreement with a for- |
27 | profit hospital facility under § 44-3-9 or other laws specific to the particular city or town relating |
28 | to stabilization agreements. In a year in which a nonprofit hospital facility converts to, or |
29 | otherwise becomes, a for-profit hospital facility, or a for-profit hospital facility is otherwise |
30 | established, in that year only the amount levied by the city or town and/or the amount payable |
31 | under the stabilization agreement for that year related to the for-profit hospital facility shall not be |
32 | counted towards determining the maximum tax levy permitted under § 44-5-2. |
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1 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO TAXATION -- PROPERTY SUBJECT TO TAXATION | |
*** | |
1 | This act would exempt from taxation the real and personal property of Home Care & |
2 | Hospice of New England, a Rhode Island nonprofit corporation. |
3 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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