§ 45-33.2-23. Establishment of tax increment district - Powers within tax increment district. (a) A city or town council may establish a tax increment district located wholly within the boundaries of such city or town in accordance with the requirements of § 45-33.2-3.1 and §§ 45-33.2-22 through 45-33.2-28. Establishment of a tax increment district is effective upon approval by a city or town council and upon adoption of a tax increment district master plan pursuant to § 45-33.2-26.

(b) Within tax increment districts and consistent with the tax increment district master plan, a city or town, in addition to powers granted to it under the Constitution, the general laws, any special act, § 45-33.2-5 and §§ 45-33.2-22 through 45-33.2-28 shall have the following powers with respect to tax increment districts:

(1) To acquire, construct, reconstruct, improve, preserve, alter, extend, operate or maintain property or promote development intended to meet the objectives of the tax increment district master plan. A city or town may acquire property, land or easements through negotiation or by other means authorized for municipalities under the general laws. Notwithstanding § 45-2-5 or any contrary provisions of any charter, other laws or ordinances, general, special or local, or of any rule or regulations of the state or the city or town, any city or town is authorized and empowered to lease, lend, pledge, grant, or convey upon terms and conditions that the city or town council may deem reasonable and fair, any real property or personal property which may be necessary or convenient to effectuation of a project, including public roads and other real property already devoted to public use;

(2) To execute and deliver contracts, agreements and other documents relating to the development, operation and maintenance of the tax increment district, including but not limited to contracts providing for liquidity facilities such as letters of credit, or providing for credit enhancement, which contracts, agreements and other documents may have a term not to exceed twenty-five (25) years;

(3) To issue bonds and other obligations of the city or town in accordance with the provisions set forth in § 45-33.2-6;

(4) To enter into written agreements with a taxpayer stabilizing or otherwise fixing the assessment of real estate within a tax increment district, provided:

(i) The term of such agreement shall not exceed twenty-five (25) years from the date of the agreement; and

(ii) The assessment agreed on for the real estate plus future improvements shall not be less than the assessment of the real estate as of the last regular assessment date without the future improvements. Any such agreement shall be recorded in the land records in the city or town. Recording of the agreement constitutes notice of the agreement to a subsequent purchaser or encumbrancer of the property or any part of it, whether voluntary or involuntary, and is binding upon a subsequent purchaser or encumbrancer. If a city or town claims that the taxpayer is not complying with the terms of such agreement, the city or town may bring an action in the superior court for the county in which the city or town is located to force compliance with the agreement;

(5) Accept grants, advances, loans, or other financial assistance from the federal government, the state, private entities, or any other source, and do any and all things necessary or desirable to secure such financial aid;

(6) Upon such terms as a city or town determines, furnish service or facilities, provide property, lend, grant, or contribute funds, including tax increment, and take any other action of a character that it is authorized to perform for other purposes; and

(7) Fix, revise, charge, collect, and abate fees, rates, rents, betterment assessments, delinquency charges, and other charges for services, and other services, facilities, and commodities furnished or supplied by the city or town, including penalties for violations of such regulations as the city or town council may from time to time promulgate. Fees, rates, rents, betterment assessments, delinquency charges, and other charges of general application shall be adopted and revised by the city or town council in accordance with procedures that ensure interested persons are afforded notice and an opportunity to present data, views, and arguments. The city or town council shall hold at least one public hearing on its schedule of fees, rates, and charges, or any revision thereof, prior to adoption, notice of which shall be published in a newspaper of substantial circulation in the district at least fifteen (15) days in advance of the hearing. No later than the date of the publication, the city or town council shall make available to the public the proposed schedule of fees, rates, rents, betterment assessments, and charges. Fees, rates, rents, betterment assessments, abatements, and other charges established by the city or town council shall not be subject to supervision or regulation by any department, division, district, board, bureau, or agency of the state or any of its political subdivisions. Fees, rates, rents, betterment assessments, delinquency charges, and other charges, made under this section shall be collected in the same manner as municipal taxes. Municipalities are granted all the powers and privileges with respect thereto as provided to municipalities in the general laws for the enforcement and collection of betterment assessments and tax liens, or as otherwise provided in §§ 45-33.2-22 through 45-33.2-28. Betterment assessments, fees, rates, rents, and charges shall be due and payable at the times as are fixed by the city or town, provided the city or town shall give notice of the due date not less than thirty (30) days prior to the due date by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town and by mailing the notice to the owners of the real property assessed at their last-known address. All revenues from fees, rates, rents, betterment assessments, and other charges under this section shall be paid into the appropriate tax increment district master plan fund account established under § 45-33.2-27(c).

Fees, rates, rents, betterment assessments, and other charges if not paid when due, shall constitute a lien upon the real property served and a charge against the owners thereof, which lien and charge shall bear interest at the same rate as delinquent property taxes. Each lien may be continued, recorded, and released in the manner provided for property tax liens and shall take precedence over all other liens or encumbrances, except a lien for property taxes of the city or town.

(c) The tax increment district may be dissolved at any time, and the boundaries of the district may be changed at any time, by a vote of a city or town council, except that the tax increment district may not be dissolved nor may the boundaries of the tax increment district be changed so long as any bonds or other indebtedness authorized and issued under §§ 45-33.2-22 through 45-33.2-28, inclusive, or any other obligations authorized and incurred under §§ 45-33.2-22 through 45-33.2-28, inclusive, remain outstanding. The tax increment district shall terminate without further action of a city or town council forty (40) years after the date it is established, if no such bonds or other indebtedness remain outstanding.

History of Section. (P.L. 2018, ch. 156, § 4; P.L. 2018, ch. 292, § 4.)