Waterfront residents takes their appeals to East Providence City Hall

File paperwork with Assessor's Office stating their cases

By Mike Rego
Posted 8/4/16

EAST PROVIDENCE — Dozens of disgruntled property owners from the waterfront area in Riverside made their presence, and particularly their frustrations, known to administrators and staff at City …

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Waterfront residents takes their appeals to East Providence City Hall

File paperwork with Assessor's Office stating their cases

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — Dozens of disgruntled property owners from the waterfront area in Riverside made their presence, and particularly their frustrations, known to administrators and staff at City Hall Thursday afternoon, Aug. 4, as they gathered en masse to deliver their revaluation appeal forms.

Residents of the neighborhood, who have seen the values of their properties increase between 30 and 60 percent at the extremes over the previous three-year period, numbered about 60 Thursday. They flooded the front foyer of City Hall, then made their way to the Assessor's Office to file their paperwork.

The effort was in part led by members of the the community-based Riverside Renaissance Movement.

A press release about Thursday's action co-signed by Jason Rafferty, the Director of the Riverside Renaissance Movement, and Deborah Gonzalez, Chair of the RRM Waterfront Committee, defending the position of those most affected stated, "It is a working class, economically diverse neighborhood with an overrepresentation of residents on fixed incomes and single parent families. These tax increases have a (sic) enormous economic toll on waterfront property owners, many of which are facing hard decisions about sacrificing insurance, healthcare, and other necessities."

The release further stated, "The response we have been getting is to just sell our homes, but that is not how communities are built and it is not fair to those who have called Riverside home for decades."

Thursday's show of unity was just the latest in a series of public appearances by Riverside waterfront land owners. They showed up in droves consistently at City Council meetings since the initial tax bills for Fiscal Year 16-17 were mailed in May. At each successive meeting, they urged the council to respond to their concerns.

At its July 19 forum, the council did support a resolution proposed by Ward 4 representative Tim Conley, in whose district the owners reside, and At-Large councilor Tracy Capobianco which in parts would not allow property values to exceed 15 percent over the previous revaluation period. The measure, however, also needs the support of the Rhode Island General Assembly to take effect, something that can't or won't happen until the body reconvenes for the 2017 session on January 1 of next year.

— Photos by East Providence Post and eastbayri.com staff photographer Rich Dionne

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