Property tax accusation lingers in Johnston

By Bill Rappleye
Political Reporter
Published: November 17, 2008

JOHNSTON, R.I.—One campaign accusation is still lingering in Johnston, two weeks after the election.

The accusation brought up in the campaign was that Mayor Joseph Polisena received favorable treatment on his property taxes.  But challenger Ray Acciardo backed down from that charge when asked about it Monday.

Polisena lives on a lake. His former opponent lives on a street of single-family homes.  All of the properties in town were revalued in 2006. The value of the mayor’s home increased by $73,000 to $395,000. Acciardo’s valuation also went up, from $183,000 to $256,300.

As a result of the higher jump in Acciardo’s property, his taxes went up by about 18 percent.  Polisena’s taxes increased by about 4 percent. 

So, Acciardo put out a flyer, which Polisena said was misleading.

“It was probably one of the nastiest, filthiest, lying-est campaigns I’ve ever seen. Once again, it’s the good old boys from the bad old days trying to get their hands on the taxpayers’ pocket,“ Polisena said.

Sharyn DiFazio, the town’s deputy tax collector, said the revaluations were out of the mayor’s hands.

“The important thing to note is that it’s done by someone outside of the town,“ DiFazio said.

“I’m not implying anything. I’m not accusing him of anything … The taxes are taxes, the numbers are numbers. You can’t really juggle the numbers,“ Acciardo said. “It just seems that of all the people whose taxes went down … it was him.“

The tax bills reflect the 2006 revaluation of the homes in Johnston.  Polisena’s didn’t increase as much percentage-wise as Acciardo’s.

Like most Rhode Islanders, neither man said he thinks he could sell his home for the value set by the appraisal company two years ago.