Rhode Island General Laws Title 44. Taxation § 44-72-2. Purpose

(a) The state funds cities and towns pursuant to chapter 13 of title 45.

(b) There is a compelling state interest in protecting the tax base of its cities and towns.

(c) There are numerous non-owner occupied residential properties throughout the cities and towns of Rhode Island assessed at values over one million dollars ($1,000,000).

(d) The existence of such properties within a city or town has an impact on the value of real property within the cities and towns and the tax base within these cities and towns.

(e) Non-owner occupied properties sometimes place a greater demand on essential state, city, or town services such as police and fire protection than do occupied properties comparably assessed for real estate tax purposes.

(f) The residents of non-owner occupied properties are not vested with a motive to maintain such properties.

(g) The owners of non-owner occupied properties do not always contribute a fair share of the costs of providing the foregoing essential state, city, or town services financed in part by real estate tax revenues, which revenues are solely based on the assessed value of properties.

(h) Some properties are deliberately left vacant by their owners in the hope that real estate values will increase, thereby enabling the owners to sell these properties at a substantial profit without making any of the necessary repairs or improvements to the property.

(i) The non-owner occupation of such property whether for profit speculation, tax benefit, or any other purposes is the making use of that property and as such, is a privilege incident to the ownership of the property.

(j) Owners of non-owner occupied properties must be encouraged to use the properties in a positive manner to stop the spread of deterioration, to increase the stock of viable real estate within a city or town, and to maintain real estate values within communities.

(k) Owners of non-owner occupied properties must be required, through a state's power to tax, to pay a fair share of the cost of providing certain essential state services to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.

(l) For all of the reasons stated within this section, the purpose of this chapter is to impose a statewide tax upon non-owner occupied residential property assessed at a value of one million dollars ($1,000,000) or more.