High Rhode Island Property Tax Assessment? Here’s What to Do Next

With Rhode Island municipal revaluations of property going into effect for the 2025 tax year, many homeowners and business owners are beginning to explore their options on challenging the new assessment, as most assessments have increased rather than decreased. However, the process for challenging an increase in the assessed value of property in Rhode Island is a very specific process that requires an intimate knowledge of the applicable appeal statute. If taxpayers miss any of the several specific requirements, they can completely foreclose their ability to pursue their property tax appeal. That is why it is essential for property owners to consider several factors when determining whether they wish to pursue an appeal of their assessment. To help you make an informed decision, we answer a number of frequently asked questions below, addressing the overall process for appealing residential, commercial and all other property constituting land under Rhode Island General Laws § 44-5-26, the Tax Appeal Statute.

Who May File an Appeal?

Appeals of real estate tax may be filed by either the owner, the tenant of, or group of tenants of the real property subject to the appeal. If it is the tenant or tenant(s) filing the appeal, the tenant must prove it is responsible to pay more than one half of the taxes on the property subject to the appeal. This requirement is not applicable if it is the property owner taking the appeal. For purposes of this article, we will refer to the appealing party as the property owner, though the same principles apply to tenants.

What Does the Process Look Like?

The process starts when a property owner receives his/her real estate tax bill from its municipality for the relevant taxable year. At that point, the property owner has ninety (90) days from the due date of their first tax payment to file an appeal with the tax assessor’s office.

Once the assessor receives the appeal, they have forty-five (45) days to review the appeal and render a decision. Generally, the assessor’s review almost always results in a denial of the applicant’s appeal.

Once a decision is rendered by the assessor, the applicant must then appeal the decision of the assessor to the Board of Tax Assessment Review (BTAR). Appeals to the BTAR must be brought within thirty (30) days of the assessor’s issuance of a decision. At that point, once the BTAR receives the appeal, it must hear the appeal and render a decision within ninety (90) days of the filing of the appeal, or, within thirty (30) days of the date the hearing was held. As with the first step, more often than not, the BTAR will deny the applicant’s appeal, bringing the applicant to the third and most productive step of the appeal process.

After the BTAR issues its decision, the applicant may file a petition in the Superior Court for the county in which the property subject to the appeal is located within thirty (30) days of the BTAR’s issuance of its decision. This is the stage where municipalities generally become open to considering settlement proposals for reduction in a property’s assessed value. However, an applicant cannot make it to the third stage unless they satisfy the first two stages in the exact manner which is required under the statute.

What Should Property Owners Consider When Determining Whether to Appeal Their Assessment?

It is very important that property owners consider whether a tax appeal for their current assessment is worth it through a cost/benefit analysis prior to bringing an appeal. The single largest consideration a property owner should make is whether the total taxes owed in the prior year compared to the total taxes owed in the current year are more or less than what the applicant stands to expend on bringing the appeal. This is not a discouragement from seeking an appeal, but rather a very simple calculation.

The cost of an appeal includes two (2) main categories: 1) retainment of a licensed real estate appraiser to generate an appraisal challenging the assessment; and 2) legal fees incurred (including application fees and court costs) in pursuit of the appeal. For example, if a property owner retains an appraiser and finds the difference between the appraised value and the municipality’s assessed value is exponentially different, it likely would be worth retaining counsel to file an appeal to make it to that third step of filing in Superior Court. With such evidence, it is more likely than not that the municipality will seek to meet the property owner somewhere closer to the appraised value rather than expend legal services in defending what is most likely an incorrect assessment.

What Are Some Concerns/Considerations Regarding the Tax Appeal Statute?

The provision of the statute which municipalities and attorneys alike misapply most often is the requirement that a property owner file an “intent” to file a real estate accounting for the applicable tax year subject to challenge between December 31 and January 31 of their intention to submit a declaration of accounting by March 15. If an applicant were to read the statute without intimate knowledge of Rhode Island tax appeal jurisprudence, they would see that it provides “Failure to file a true and full account, within the proscribed time, eliminates the right to appeal to the superior court”. If we were to estimate how many property owners file an accounting within the prescribed time, it would be less than 1 out of 10.

However, what municipalities do not tell applicants is that there exists a provision of the statute which acts as an exception to the accounting requirement and allows for the applicant to proceed to an appeal with the Superior Court notwithstanding their failure to timely file an accounting. The statute provides that a person may still take the third step and take an appeal to the Superior Court where 1) the person’s real estate has been assessed at a value in excess of the value the property was assessed on the last preceding assessment day (i.e. if the new assessment is higher than the last assessment); and 2) has been assessed at a value in excess of its “full and fair cash value”.

So what does exceeding a property’s “full and fair cash value” mean? Full and fair cash value has been defined through case law as “the amount which a willing buyer would probably pay to a willing seller in an arm’s length transaction in a fair market”. See Allen v. Bonded Municipal Corp., 62 R.I. 101, 105, 4 A.2d 249, 251 (1938). Full and fair cash value is essentially the fair market value of the property, and it is the property owner’s burden to present evidence to establish that the assessment challenged exceeds that number. If the property owner can prove that, the appeal will survive failure to file an accounting.

This is where it becomes essential to have knowledgeable counsel guide the property owner through the process and take the steps necessary to establish the necessary evidence to show the assessment challenged exceeds the full and fair cash value of the property. In fact, DarrowEverett LLP recently defeated motions for summary judgment filed by a municipality in two (2) separate tax appeal cases whereby the municipality argued that our clients’ appeal should be dismissed based on their failure to file an accounting. We successfully established the evidence necessary to show that 1) the assessment challenged exceeded the previous assessment; and 2) presented evidence to show that the new assessment could exceed the full and fair cash value of the properties.

Final Thoughts

Based on 2025 being a revaluation year, the new assessments have affected and concerned most property owners in Rhode Island since most assessments increased. If your assessment went up this year, it is important to contact experienced and knowledgeable legal counsel to determine whether it would be financially beneficial for you to appeal the assessment.

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This DarrowEverett Insight should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. This Insight is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, a lawyer-client relationship. The contents are intended for general informational purposes only, and you are urged to consult your attorney concerning any particular situation and any specific legal question you may have. Please reach out to us if you need help addressing any of the issues discussed in this Insight, or any other issues or concerns you may have relating to your business. We are ready to help guide you through these challenging times.

This Insight does not constitute written tax advice as described in 31 C.F.R. §10, et seq. and is not intended or written by us to be used and/or relied on as written tax advice for any purpose including, without limitation, the marketing of any transaction addressed herein. Any U.S. federal tax advice rendered by DarrowEverett LLP shall be conspicuously labeled as such, shall include a discussion of all relevant facts and circumstances, as well as of any representations, statements, findings, or agreements (including projections, financial forecasts, or appraisals) upon which we rely, applicable to transactions discussed therein in compliance with 31 C.F.R. §10.37, shall relate the applicable law and authorities to the facts, and shall set forth any applicable limits on the use of such advice.