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Providence committee hears fiscal warnings, human-cost arguments as rent stabilization ordinance advances
Summary
At a March 2 HOPE Committee meeting, Council President Rachel Miller defended a proposed Providence Rent Stabilization Act as a tool to make rents predictable while the city’s CFO and an independent consultant warned of administrative costs and possible property tax impacts. The committee scheduled more listening sessions and continued deliberations.
Council President Rachel Miller presented the Providence Rent Stabilization Act to the HOPE (Health, Opportunity, Prosperity, and Education) Committee on March 2, saying the measure’s single purpose is to make rent predictable for tenants and reduce homelessness.
"Rent stabilization does exactly one thing and one thing only. It stabilizes rent," Miller said, arguing that the ordinance would increase long-term tenancy and give renters a forum to challenge sudden increases.
The administration’s chief financial officer, Lawrence Mancini, told the committee his office reviewed the fiscal note and found key assumptions and operational impacts were incompletely specified. Mancini said the ordinance would create an ongoing administrative obligation, and the fiscal note estimates annual operating costs at approximately $576,000 beginning next fiscal year. He warned that changes to rental valuation could shift or reduce…
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