

WARWICK, RI – Motor vehicle tax bills, delayed pending the outcome of legislation to eliminate taxes on vehicles 15 years old or older, will be mailed no later than July 21 in the wake of a continuing impasse over the bill that ended the General Assembly session June 30 without passing a budget.
If you’re interested in seeing it sooner, the city’s electronic payment portal is updated and available for those who want to view bills and make payments online.
Once on the site, said Tax Assessor Christopher Celeste, tax payers should type in only their last name, then navigate to the correct bill from there. Putting in more information doesn’t necessarily make the search work better in this case, he said.
“Unless it’s Jones, then you might want to go a little farther,” Celeste said.
The potential change to the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax, H 6267, was introduced by the General Assembly this session by House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (D-Dist. 15, Cranston) House Majority Leader K. Joseph Shekarchi,(D-Dist. 23, Warwick), and Charlene M. Lima (D-Dist. 14 Cranston, Providence).
On Friday, Mayor Scott Avedisian and Tax Assessor Christopher Celeste announced the decision to send the bills without waiting on final word from the General Assembly.
“Due to the recent impasse, the proposed relief is not in effect. Therefore, motor vehicle tax bills will be mailed and calculated based on the existing motor vehicle tax formula,” their joint statement, distributed to media Friday morning, reads.
In the event the state budget passes in FY18 with the car tax relief legislation intact, bills will be adjusted accordingly and corrected bills will be mailed.
“With the tireless help from the City’s tax department, we will continue to work to provide all taxpayers with the most up-to-date information regarding their motor vehicle tax bills,” said Avedisian. “We understand that the delay has frustrated residents, but our goal is always to act in the best interest of the taxpayers and reduce as much of the tax burden as possible. As we move through the fiscal year, we will continue to monitor this piece of legislation and the proposed tax relief it may bring.”
Although the due date for the first quarter is July 15, 2017, no interest will accrue as long as the first quarter payment is made by Aug. 31, 2017.
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