Wealth and Taxes

Where does Charlestown Stand?

By Will Collette

• Where do you think Charlestown ranks among Rhode Island cities and towns for residential property tax?

• Where do you think Charlestown ranks among Rhode Island cities and towns for car tax?

• Where do you think Charlestown ranks among Rhode Island cities and towns for overall property taxes?

• Now, where do you think Charlestown ranks among Rhode Island cities and towns for family wealth?

The answers may surprise you.

Charlestown’s taxes are among the lowest in the state, according to research published in GoLocalProv, but we are way down the list of RI municipalities in terms of affluence.

Charlestown’s residential property tax is the 4^th lowest in the state. At $9.06 per $1000 of valuation, only Narragansett at $8.97, Little Compton at $5.33 and Block Island (New Shoreham) at $4.74 are lower. By contrast, Scituate residents top the list at $32.73.

Charlestown’s car tax rate of $13.08 is the 2^nd lowest in the state. Only Block Island, at $9.75, is lower. The highest is Providence at $60.

Charlestown’s overall local property tax rate is the 3^rd lowest in the state. Only Little Compton and Block Island are lower. Providence is ranked the highest overall. SEE TABLE, below.

Of course, the larger cities and towns with full-time professional firefighters don’t tack on Fire District taxes as we do, but that does little to change the rankings.

Further, the larger, higher-taxed municipalities provide lots of things that Charlestown doesn’t have – municipal water, sewage, trash disposal, etc. that we pay for privately, rather than through our taxes – although that doesn’t account for Scituate’s high rate, especially when you consider the fees Providence pays for the Scituate Reservoir. And yes, in some municipalities, you may have to pay a separate water and/or sewage bill.

But even though Charlestown’s taxes are very low – among the lowest – that doesn’t mean Charlestown’s taxes are fair.

One hint of why Charlestown’s low tax rates may not be fair can be found in where we rank in terms of median family income.

How many of you guessed Charlestown was in the Top Ten among RI's wealthiest communities? Top Five?

Well, Charlestown is halfway down the pack, ranking only at #16 at $83,107.

Median family income exceeds $100,000 in the top four (Barrington, East Greenwich Little Compton and Exeter). We are also well behind North and South Kingstown, Block Island, Smithfield, Lincoln, Portsmouth and East Greenwich and edged out by Jamestown, Gloucester, Cumberland and West Greenwich. The statewide average family median income is $71,037.

Click on image to enlarge

Yet, we have all those million dollar-plus properties along all our waterfronts. How can we be surrounded by so much conspicuous wealth yet not see it reflected in the incomes of our residents?

Simple answer: there are two types of Charlestown property owners: those of us who actually LIVE here and those who VACATION here.

I can almost hear the groans coming from the Charlestown Citizen Alliance’s secret clubhouse, “there goes Collette again with his class war.”

Indeed, prominent CCA leaders like immediate past CCA President Kallie Jurgens, Town Council President and CCA Secretary Tom Gentz and CCA Steering Committee member Tom DePatie have all made the case that we should genuflect and kiss the butts of the absentee millionaires who pay taxes on their waterfront McMansions. Maybe even give them the right to vote.

Of course, I see it differently. To our rich visitors, Charlestown is a commodity to be purchased and exploited. They have bought or built their palaces on the water at a bargain price compared to the Hamptons. They roll in each spring, tripling the population, stressing the town infrastructure and staff to the limits, tossing trash and insults wherever they please and we’re supposed to say “Yassuh. Will there be anything else?”

Sure, thank you, rich people, for the tax revenue, but you saddle us with burdens we must pay for all year long to ensure your summer stay with us will be pleasant.

I think out of state property owners should consider themselves lucky for Charlestown and for the bargain price amenities we provide. I dare any one of them to find someplace that offers them a better deal – if they had found such a place, they’d be there already.

As permanent town residents in a community whose economy is largely just the summer months, our most valuable commodity is the town itself – the land, the ocean, the experience. Rather than worry we will somehow alienate the people from Florida, New Jersey, New York or wherever, we should be asking ourselves if we’re selling the right to live here for too cheap.

Suppose we increased the tax rate for non-residents? What do you think they will do? Will we cause a mass exodus to East Hampton or Hilton Head or the French Riviera? Will our summer Floridians stay home with the gators and the skeeters?

This is a serious question for Charlestown residents to consider. Our population is aging. We are increasingly becoming a retirement community and we all know pensions, Social Security and other retirement incomes are not matching the rising costs of key commodities like energy or food. Everybody in town took a hit on this year’s tax bills, though the millionaire homeowners took less of a hit than middle class homeowners.

Is it time to think about a better way to tax, a fairer way?