To the Editor:

My name is Richard Corrente and I am a Democrat for mayor of Warwick. For over 450 days I have actively campaigned every day with the slogan “Cut taxes, cut spending.” You all just got the latest tax increase. That makes 16 long years in a row that Mayor Avedisian has increased taxes.

Has the mayor been fair? You decide. My home had a decrease in value over the last two years of $50,000, according to Eppraisal and Zillow. My tax assessed value in that same time period, however, went up by a whopping $70,000, for a total swing of $110,000.

At the same time my four-unit at 1115 Greenwich Ave. is being taxed as a -fiveunit and the unbuildable lot I own in Potowomut had an unbelievable one-year increase in assessed value of 259 percent going from $3,700 to $9,600.

I have said many times that taxpayers of Warwick are not “Taxed-Enough-Already.” Here in Warwick we are “Taxed-Beyond-All-Reason.”

You can see it for yourself on the Warwick Tax Assessors site and do your own comparison between what Eppraisal and Zillow says about your own home and what the mayor says. I have researched the homes of many Warwick taxpayers and, so far, I have only found one house where the values have actually gone down. The property at 200 Atlantic Avenue has actually received a decreased value. The assessed value is only $158,300 while Eppraisal shows a value of $275,000. That’s $117,000 more! That house is owned by Mayor Scott Avedisian. 

If you think taxes should go up for everyone but the mayor, you should vote for him. If you agree with me that “tax assessed values should go up or down when honest market values do,” then vote for me because that is the unbiased method I will use as mayor.

Richard Corrente

Democrat for Mayor