The bill amends Section 44-3-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 44-3 to clarify and expand property tax exemptions for various categories of properties, including those owned by the state, the United States, educational and religious organizations, military purposes, burial grounds, and charitable organizations. It introduces specific exemptions for real and tangible personal property of the Pokanoket Management Group, a Rhode Island nonprofit corporation, trustee of the Pokanoket Tribe Land Trust, located in the town of Bristol, Rhode Island, and used directly to cultivate, preserve, and protect the natural, cultural, traditional, and historical resources, watersheds, habitats, ecosystems, and archaeological sites of and within the ancestral territory of the Pokanoket people.

Additionally, the bill modifies Section 45-13-5.1 to clarify appropriations in lieu of property tax for exempt properties, including those owned by private nonprofit institutions of higher education and nonprofit hospital facilities, with the state appropriating a sum equal to 27% of the tax that would have been collected if the property were taxable. The bill also outlines the fiscal year grant process and stipulates that municipalities cannot record both taxes and appropriations related to for-profit hospital facilities in the same fiscal year. The act is set to take effect on December 31, 2025.

Statutes affected:
6291: 44-3-3, 45-13-5.1
6291  SUB A: 44-3-3, 45-13-5.1