The Providence Community Health Centers, Inc. v. Neal Dupuis, in his capacity as Tax Assessor for the City of Warwick

CourtSupreme Court of Rhode Island
DecidedJune 5, 2026
Docket2024-0287-Appeal.
StatusPublished

This text of The Providence Community Health Centers, Inc. v. Neal Dupuis, in his capacity as Tax Assessor for the City of Warwick (The Providence Community Health Centers, Inc. v. Neal Dupuis, in his capacity as Tax Assessor for the City of Warwick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
The Providence Community Health Centers, Inc. v. Neal Dupuis, in his capacity as Tax Assessor for the City of Warwick, (R.I. 2026).

Opinion

Supreme Court

No. 2024-287-Appeal. (KC 23-192)

The Providence Community Health : Centers, Inc.

v. :

Neal Dupuis, in his capacity as Tax : Assessor for the City of Warwick.

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the Rhode Island Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Opinion Analyst, Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 250 Benefit Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, at Telephone (401) 222-3258 or Email opinionanalyst@courts.ri.gov, of any typographical or other formal errors in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is published. Supreme Court

Neal Dupuis, in his capacity as Tax : Assessor for the City of Warwick.

Present: Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Robinson, and Lynch Prata, JJ.

OPINION

Chief Justice Suttell, for the Court. The plaintiff, The Providence

Community Health Centers, Inc. (PCHC or plaintiff), appeals from a Superior Court

judgment entered in favor of the defendant, Neal Dupuis, in his capacity as Tax

Assessor for the City of Warwick (the tax assessor or defendant), following the grant

of the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. This case came before the

Supreme Court pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause

why the issues raised in this appeal should not be summarily decided. After

considering the parties’ written and oral submissions and reviewing the record, we

conclude that cause has not been shown and that this case may be decided without

further briefing or argument. For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm the

judgment of the Superior Court.

-1- I

Facts and Travel1

PCHC is a nonprofit healthcare organization operating in Providence, Rhode

Island. It is the only federally qualified health center in Providence. PCHC was

established in 1968 and treats patients without regard to their ability to pay for its

healthcare services, including medical, dental, mental health, substance abuse, vision

and enabling services. As of 2022, PCHC treated 62,489 patients, approximately 78

percent of whom were either uninsured or provided with public insurance. The vast

majority of its patients qualify for Medicaid, which suggests that it predominantly

serves those who are beneath or just above the federal poverty level. However,

PCHC admitted that it is not always able to collect every patient’s financial

information and that one patient self-reported a household annual income of

$350,000.

PCHC owns twenty-five properties in Providence, which allows it to provide

its services to a large number of people in the community. At issue in this appeal,

however, is PCHC’s sole property in the City of Warwick, located at 1 Coastway

Boulevard (the property), which it acquired on July 28, 2020. The property is

utilized by PCHC for “Patient Case Management, Clinical Administrative Staff,

1 We glean the facts primarily from the affidavits of Merrill R. Thomas, the President and Chief Executive Officer of PCHC, and Neal Dupuis, the Tax Assessor for the City of Warwick.

-2- Medical Records, Billing, Coding, Accounting/Payroll, Human Resources and

Executive Leadership.” Additionally, healthcare providers within the case

management division of PCHC meet with patients virtually from the property to

provide those patients with healthcare services.

On March 25, 2021, the Providence City Council passed a resolution favoring

the passage of legislation that would grant PCHC an exemption from property taxes.

Thereafter, the General Assembly provided PCHC with a specific property tax

exemption, which went into effect on June 1, 2021. See G.L. 1956 § 44-3-3(a)(70).

The language of that exemption provides: “The following property is exempt from

taxation * * * [r]eal and tangible personal property of The Providence Community

Health Centers, Inc., a Rhode Island domestic nonprofit corporation, located in

Providence, Rhode Island.” Id.

On September 10, 2021, PCHC applied for a tax exemption from the tax

assessor for the City of Warwick. On December 31, 2021, while that application

was under consideration, the tax assessor assessed the property as being worth

$5,541,500 for the tax year 2022. In January 2022, the tax assessor requested

information from PCHC pertaining to how its operations benefit Warwick and for

any communications it may have had with the city or its legislative representatives.

PCHC responded by informing the tax assessor that it employed thirty-nine Warwick

residents and that it had treated a minimum of 843 Warwick residents over the course

-3- of 2021. Additionally, PCHC noted that it did not have any discussions about a tax

exemption “with the City of Warwick,” but that it had received support from a

Warwick representative in considering § 44-3-3(a)(70). It further provided letters

from sponsors of § 44-3-3(a)(70), stating that it was the General Assembly’s intent

to provide PCHC with a statewide property tax exemption. Based on “the fact that

the Providence City Council and Providence [General Assembly] delegation were

the only ones involved in the passage of § 44-3-3(a)(70),” the tax assessor concluded

that the statute “is a Providence-specific exemption * * *.” Accordingly, PCHC’s

request for an exemption was denied.2

PCHC was then liable to Warwick for $155,716.15 in taxes on the property.

It appealed its tax liability to the tax assessor, arguing that the § 44-3-3(a)(70)

exemption applied to the property even though the property is situated in Warwick

and not Providence. That appeal was denied on November 22, 2022. PCHC next

appealed from that decision to the Tax Board of Review for the City of Warwick

(tax board), arguing once again that the plain language of § 44-3-3(a)(70) provided

it with an exemption, and, once again, that appeal was denied on or about February

14, 2023.

2 The affidavit of Merrill R. Thomas notes that this denial occurred on “June 27, 2020.” However, the request for the exemption first came in September 2021 and based on the other events that occurred in the interim, the date of denial was likely June 27, 2022.

-4- PCHC then filed an appeal from the decision of the tax board to the Superior

Court, pursuant to G.L. 1956 § 44-5-26(j), on March 16, 2023. In its original

petition, PCHC argued that it was exempt from paying taxes on the property due to

§ 44-3-3(a)(70); however, on November 24, 2023, it amended its petition to include

the contention that it was alternatively exempt from paying such taxes under

§ 44-3-3(a)(12).3

After answering the amended petition, the tax assessor moved for summary

judgment arguing that the court was required to construe the statutes strictly against

PCHC because it was seeking an exemption. He then argued that PCHC’s reading

of § 44-3-3(a)(70) was incorrect because (1) the grammar and punctuation of the

statute plainly supports the determination that only PCHC’s Providence properties

are exempted from taxation, (2) the plain language of the statute expressly exempts

only PCHC’s Providence properties, (3) PCHC’s interpretation contains surplusage,

and (4) public records surrounding the enactment of § 44-3-3(a)(70) suggest that the

General Assembly intended to exempt only PCHC’s Providence properties. He

3 General Laws 1956 § 44-3-3(a)(12) provides a tax exemption for

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In Re Brown
903 A.2d 147 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 2006)
D'AMICO v. Johnston Partners
866 A.2d 1222 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 2005)
Webster v. Perrotta
774 A.2d 68 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 2001)
LIFESPAN CORPORATION v. City of Providence
776 A.2d 1061 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 2001)
In Re Kyle S.
692 A.2d 329 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1997)
Accent Store Design, Inc. v. Marathon House, Inc.
674 A.2d 1223 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1996)
City of Providence v. Killoran
447 A.2d 369 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1982)
Benaski v. Weinberg
899 A.2d 499 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 2006)
St. Clare Home v. Donnelly
368 A.2d 1214 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1977)
Berman v. Sitrin
991 A.2d 1038 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 2010)
In Re Review of Proposed Town of New Shoreham Project
25 A.3d 482 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 2011)
PRESERVATION SOC. OF NEWPORT CO. v. Assessor of Taxes
247 A.2d 430 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1968)
Markham v. Allstate Insurance Company
352 A.2d 651 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1976)
LaPlante v. Honda North America, Inc.
697 A.2d 625 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1997)
Delta Airlines, Inc. v. Neary
785 A.2d 1123 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 2001)
Lazarus v. Sherman
10 A.3d 456 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 2011)
In Re Tetreault
11 A.3d 635 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
The Providence Community Health Centers, Inc. v. Neal Dupuis, in his capacity as Tax Assessor for the City of Warwick, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/the-providence-community-health-centers-inc-v-neal-dupuis-in-his-ri-2026.