The Bristol Town Council is considering a new three-tier tax system, which would effectively shift the property tax burden from those that own homes to those that rent homes or apartments.

Last week’s front-page story, “Landlords will pay more in new tax system,” was technically correct, but it more accurately should have read “Bristol residents who rent homes or apartments will pay more in new tax system.”

Don’t think for a moment that that additional tax won’t be passed down from the property owner to the Bristol renter, who will ultimately pay more for rent on top of rents that have skyrocketed over the past five years. It is a counterintuitive policy change which will only exacerbate rather than help solve the current housing affordability crisis.

And the sub headline was equally misleading, which read, “Bristol adopts a new property tax system that creates higher taxes for rental properties than for residents.” What? Since when are Bristolians who rent not residents? This slight may have been unintentional, but rather I think is was the subconscious of the headline writer thinking only those who own homes rightfully belong in this town.

The town council chairman’s remarks were equally disturbing. He is quoted as saying, voicing sympathy, “I picture the people who have lived here for a very long time.” So the subconscious, I presume, is at work here, too. The council chair “pictures” Bristol homeowners and not Bristol renters who have lived here for a long time… apparently.

The entire East Bay is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, and elected officials are considering arbitrarily shifting the tax burden from one class of taxpayer to another. Word on the street has it that the ordinance is aimed at RWU students living in apartments in town and they will bear the burden of this new tax classification, but while that may be true, an “unintended consequence” is also true that Bristol families that have also lived here for a long time will suffer from the enactment of this proposed three tax tier classification. I also wonder out loud, whether it passes constitutional muster to tax one resident differently than another, because they rent rather than own a residence.

The answer to reducing rents and the cost of purchasing a home here is more inventory. The town councilors’ energy should be focused more on using their position and their bully pulpit to engage Roger Williams University in renegotiating the 20-year town/gown agreement and pressuring RWU to build more housing on their campus which can house all of their students on campus, thereby reducing the demand on rental units in the town, as well as positioning the town to gain control of RWU-owned Almeida Apartments and freeing up more than 100 rental units.

It would be a more constructive use of their power to help solve the housing affordability crisis.

Doug Gablinske
Warren