Title 45, Title 45 and Cities

A city, town, or fire district that is subject to the jurisdiction of a fiscal overseer or a budget commission, may not levy property taxes or motor vehicle excise taxes without prior approval of the division of municipal finance. Before the city, town, or fire district that is s…

(a) The fiscal overseer shall report in writing to the division of municipal finance if the fiscal overseer concludes that the city, town, or fire district: (1) Is unable to present a balanced municipal or fire district budget; (2) Faces a fiscal crisis that poses an imminent dan…

(a) If a budget commission is established under §§ 45-9-5 or 45-12-22.7, it shall consist of five (5) members: three (3) of whom shall be designees of the director of revenue; one of whom shall be the elected chief executive officer of the city; and one of whom shall be a council…

(a) If the budget commission established by § 45-9-5 concludes that its powers are insufficient to restore fiscal stability to the city, town, or fire district, it shall so notify the director of revenue and shall forward to the director of revenue a statement of the reasons why …

In the event the director of revenue determines, in consultation with the auditor general, that a city, town, or fire district is facing a fiscal emergency and that circumstances do not allow for appointment of a fiscal overseer or a budget commission prior to the appointment of …

Notwithstanding chapter 7 of title 28 or any other general or special law or any charter or local ordinance to the contrary, new collective bargaining agreements, and any amendments, to new or existing collective bargaining agreements, (collectively, “collective bargaining agreem…

The electors of any town or city qualified to vote on a proposition to impose a tax, or any town or city council, when legally assembled, may, by vote, petition the state director of revenue for the installation of an accounting system for the town or city.

The town or city treasurer or any other person or persons that may have custody of any accounts or other records described in § 45-10-9 shall, on demand of the person or persons authorized by § 45-10-4 to make post audit, deliver to that person or persons for examination all appl…

The director of revenue, at the request of the person or persons authorized by § 45-10-4 to make a post audit, may summon and compel the attendance of witnesses for examination under oath, and may compel the production of accounts and records described in § 45-10-9.

Whenever any town or city fails to file a duplicate copy of the audit report as required in § 45-10-5 within the time required by that section, or files a report that does not fully comply with the requirements of §§ 45-10-5 and 45-10-6, or fails to provide the notice of engageme…

Each town or city for which an audit has been made, a system of accounting installed, or clerical or other assistance furnished, under the provisions of this chapter, shall pay to the general treasurer a sum equal to the actual cost to the state of any of these services as shown …

The general assembly shall annually appropriate any sums that it deems necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter, and the state director of revenue is authorized and directed to draw his or her orders upon the general treasurer for the payment of th…

For any audit year in which a municipality contributes materially less than 100% of the annual required contribution to its pension plan(s) as reported in accordance with GASB statement 27 or any successor statement, the municipality shall submit to the auditor general and the di…

(a) In order to strengthen the fiscal accountability of cities, towns and municipalities in Rhode Island an advisory council on municipal finances is hereby formed. The council is composed of five (5) members as follows: (1) The auditor general of the state of Rhode Island or his…

Upon the passage of the vote petitioning the state director of revenue for the installation of a system of accounting as provided in § 45-10-1, the town or city clerk or any other person so authorized in that vote shall immediately forward by registered or certified mail to the d…

Whenever a system of accounting has been installed under the provisions of this chapter, the town or city council of the municipality in which the system is installed may request the assistance of the state director of revenue in the operation of the system, and the state directo…

Each municipality and regional school district in the state, prior to the close of the fiscal year, shall retain the services of one or more independent certified public accountants holding a certificate from the state of Rhode Island, or from any other state with whom the state …

The accountants making the post audit required by § 45-10-4 shall submit a report on their examination of the financial statements to the city or town audited, and the town or city clerk of the city or town shall file duplicate copies of the post audit with the state director of …

The office of the auditor general of the state of Rhode Island shall prescribe and supervise the application of uniform accounting principles and financial reporting to follow the guidelines established by the governmental accounting standards board and the American Institute of …

(a) If the municipality fails to comply with the provisions of this chapter by filing the audit report as required under this chapter, the auditor general, in his or her discretion, is authorized to provide for the completion of the audit. In that event, the auditors and/or the m…

(a) Failure to file the duplicate audit report as prescribed in § 45-10-4 shall result in a sanction being imposed equal to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per month or a monthly sanction equal to one-twelfth (1/12) of the product of one percent (1%) of the general revenue sharing…

The audit report referred to in this chapter shall include for each fund of the city or town and for each public industry maintained or operated by the city or town: (1) Financial statements for the fiscal year prepared in accordance with the reporting requirements prescribed in …

If the auditor conducting the post audit expresses an opinion on the financial statements of a municipality or school district that is other than unqualified, the chief finance officer of the municipality or school district shall submit a detailed corrective action plan and timet…

The cost and expenses of the post audit shall be borne by each city and town.

Notice of the engagement of the certified public accountant or accountants pursuant to § 45-10-4, shall be mailed by the city or town clerk to the director of revenue and the auditor general by registered or certified mail during the period preceding the 60th day prior to the clo…

In order to carry out the purpose of this chapter, the certified public accountant or accountants shall have access to all of the municipality’s books of account, tax warrant books, tax bills, receipts, vouchers, check books, cancelled checks, correspondence, bank books, document…

The city council of any city and voters of any town in this state in a financial town meeting, or any other municipal body legally empowered to appropriate funds of a city or town, if they see fit to do so, may vote: (1) To establish a fund to be designated as a reserve fund, thi…

(a) The outstanding notes, bonds, and contracts of cities and towns shall be paid and fulfilled according to their tenor, and all public works now authorized to be prosecuted shall be prosecuted, and all indebtedness now authorized to be incurred on account thereof may be incurre…

The state director of revenue may, upon petition by the city or town council, authorize the city or town to incur indebtedness in excess of the limit of three percent (3%) of the full assessed value of the taxable property within the city or town imposed by § 45-12-2 whenever the…

The mayors, city clerks, and city treasurers of every city, and the presidents of the town councils, the town clerks, and the town treasurers of every town, are hereby severally constituted boards, each referred to in §§ 45-12-13 and 45-12-14 as “the board,” to carry out the prov…

Whenever the board is satisfied that any instrument or printed or written paper presented to it is in fact a valid bond or note of the city or town, but it is so damaged that its condition is as to hinder and prevent the owner or holder of a bond or note from making good delivery…

Whenever the board is satisfied that any bond or note of the city or town has been lost or destroyed, the board may upon payment to it by the owner or holder of the bond or note, of a sum that it deems necessary to cover the actual expense involved and under such regulations and …

Nothing in this chapter shall exempt a city or town from its liability to pay debts contracted for purposes for which it may lawfully expend money.

Any provisions of general or special law enacted prior to February 21, 1970, which limit the rate of interest to be paid on any bonds or other evidences of indebtedness of a city, town, or other political subdivision are repealed.

Whenever the provisions of § 45-12-16 operate to repeal a limitation on the interest rate which may be paid on any issue of bonds or other evidences of indebtedness approved by the qualified voters of any city, town, or other political subdivision, no further approval of the issu…

A city or town, acting by resolution of its city council or town council, after approval of the issue of bonds by vote of the qualified electors of the city or town if approval is required, may authorize the issue from time to time of notes in anticipation of the issue of bonds a…

The charter of any city or town may provide that the issuance of bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness of the city or town be by ordinance or by resolution after the issuance of the bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness of the city or town have been authorized…

Except as provided in § 45-12-11, no city or town shall, without special statutory authority, or ministerial approval as provided for in § 45-12-2.1 incur any debt for money borrowed which would increase its aggregate outstanding principal indebtedness not excepted by law from th…

Effective January 1, 2008, a city or town shall have authority to incur debt for money borrowed, through the issuance of bonds, if such application for approval of bonds is approved by the auditor general as described below, as meeting all of the following standards: (1) The city…

Whenever a general or special law which authorizes the issuance of bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness has become effective upon acceptance or approval by the electors of a city or town, such law shall be effective notwithstanding any failure or defect in the posting …

Sections 45-12-19 and 45-12-20 shall not apply in any way to the powers or authorities of any town exercised or exercisable in financial town meeting.

The purpose of §§ 45-12-22.1 — 45-12-22.5 are to ensure that municipalities and school districts monitor financial operations on an ongoing basis, execute a rapid response to budget problems, and maintain a balanced budget in compliance with § 44-35-10. It is the intent of the le…

Subsections (a) through (h) below shall apply to cities and towns. (a) The chief financial officer of each municipality and each school district within the state shall continuously monitor financial operations by tracking actual versus budgeted revenue and expense. (b) The chief …

(a) If, at the end of any fiscal year, the chief financial official determines, based on available data, that it is likely the city or town’s general fund or combined general fund and unrestricted school special revenue fund will incur a deficit, the municipality must notify the …

(a) Except as provided in chapter 9 of this title, no municipality shall sell a long-term bond in order to fund a deficit or to fund pension obligations or other post-employment benefits without prior approval by the state auditor general and director of the state department of r…

A municipality shall not incur expenditures nor obligate the municipality to expend unbudgeted amounts in excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) without first notifying the city or town council of such proposed expenditure and identifying the source of funding. Further…