While Majority Leader Mattiello’s expressed intent is appreciated,

“The last thing you want to do is raise taxes,” House Majority Leader Nicholas Mattiello said at a Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the R.I. Convention Center. “We have not gone there in the past and we hope this year we will not go there. I am confident we will not.”

to be respectfully blunt, it doesn’t go far enough. Accordingly, as we await Governor Chafee’s proposed budget, a review, courtesy the invaluable Tax Foundation, of Rhode Island’s current tax rankings is in order.

State and local tax burden: 5th Highest
Corporate income tax: 5th Highest.
Combined state/local property taxes: 7th Highest
And inching up one step (yippee?) this year, our business tax climate: 46th worst

Note: The first Tax Foundation link to their Rhode Island page lists our top income tax rate as 9.9%. I believe that particular data point is outdated.