Another example of what a Homestead Property Tax Exemption looks like

RI Statewide Coalition board member got $50,000 in Homestead Exemption from Florida the year he ran for elected office in Rhode Island

Kerry King

By Will Collette

On December 12, the RI Statewide Coalition brought in a mob of non-resident property owners to denounce the proposal by town Democrats that Charlestown residents receive a $1000 Homestead Tax Credit on their property tax bills.

The Town Council majority – CCA leaders Tom Gentz and Dan Slattery, plus Lisa DiBello – voted against Charlestown residents and for non-residents by killing the $1000 Homestead Tax Credit.

The RI Statewide Coalition spokesperson and organizer for the evening was RISC head kahuna Harry Staley. But if RISC wanted to be truly honest and above board about what they stand for, they should have had RISC board member Kernan “Kerry” King speak for them.

After all, Kerry King has a LOT of experience with the concept of Homestead exemptions. In fact, he had $175,000 knocked off the taxable value of his Florida home – including the year he also claimed he was a Rhode Island resident and ran as the GOP candidate for General Treasurer.

Copies of King’s property tax statements for 2005 through 2009 are reproduced at the end of this article.

When the story that King was claiming to be a resident of two states simultaneously broke during the 2010 election campaign, his answer was that he “forgot” that he had declared his residence as Florida and was collecting the Homestead exemption granted to resident property owners in that state.

King was also carrying two drivers’ licenses – illegally – one for Rhode Island and one for Florida. He said he didn’t think that was illegal.

Yet King, a licensed attorney, had been on the state of Rhode Island’s payroll – as a Special Legal Counsel to then-Governor Donald Carcieri.

There are some people who would have let these little problems – being a tax cheat and multiple offender – cause them to decide to drop their political ambitions and go off somewhere out of sight. But not Kerry King. He went through the full campaign season with these albatrosses hanging around his neck to experience one of the worst drubbings in Rhode Island politics, losing hands-down to Gina Raimondo.

Here’s my question: King had the cajones to go through with the 2010 campaign even though he was widely ridiculed even by his own Party members. So why didn’t he show up to explain to Charlestown residents why it’s wrong for them to have a Homestead Tax Credit like the one that he illegally collected from the state of Florida?