Newport Comprehensive Land Use Plan - Existing Conditions | Page 50
Newport Comprehensive Land Use Plan
Newport Revenue
As a resort community, Newport is visited annually by approximately 3.5 million visitors. Activities that draw tourists
include special events, sailing, beaches, natural beauty, the historic character, and many others. Newport’s popularity
has stimulated significant private investment in retail shopping facilities, hotels, transient guest facilities, restaurants,
clubs, and other visitor-oriented enterprises. Municipal revenue sources to finance government expenditures are
limited by Rhode Island statute to a relatively small number of categories, e.g. real and personal property taxes,
bonding and user fees. Therefore, general services are heavily dependent on the property tax revenue.
The property tax revenue for 2015 in the FY 2016-2017 General Fund budget is estimated to be $70,390,223. This
represents 80% of the total municipal revenue of $88,480,966 for FY 2015. The Hotel Tax and the Meals & Beverage
Tax are two other important sources of revenue for the City. These two sources account for approximately 4.5% of
the city’s total revenue and are collected to help support tourism efforts in the State and to help offset any
infrastructure costs due to tourism in the city. Newport’s reliance primarily on property tax revenues to finance city
services and capital improvements poses a question of equity when considering the impact on infrastructure and
services due to the large, transient tourist population. To the extent that seasonal visitors do not share a
proportionate share in the costs, these costs must be borne largely by Newport’s property owners.
Local Economic Development Plans, Programs, and Incentives
The city is actively engaged in several initiatives intended to diversify the local tax base, provide employment for
residents, leverage existing technical and hum an capital, improve city capital facilities and otherwise support and
promote a healthy economy. The intent of this plan is to more closely align these with other plan goals, policies and
strategies as a means of maximizing returns of public investments while preserving Newport’s highly valued
attributes.
The principal initiatives include the following:
North End
The city’s north end has been, is and will continue to be, a major area of policy and program emphasis. In light of the
more or less established character of most other areas of the city, the north end provides the greatest opportunity to
address needs, innovate, re-position, leverage and otherwise move the city forward. In collaboration with major
stakeholders, the city has already begun to weave together key projects that are synergistic and mutually supportive.
The Pell Bridge re-alignment provides significant opportunities for land development and economic
diversification. The city has moved forward aggressively to develop an Innovation Hub concept which will
leverage proximity to the U.S. Naval facility, academic institutions like the MET School and the new CCRI
campus, and Newport’s extensive array of coastal assets. Land use plans, utilities, transportation, zoning,
and other tools will be aligned to support this important effort.
Navy Hospital site redevelopment will play an important support role in the overall plan for north end
repositioning. This nine-acre waterfront site is ideally situated at the south end of this area and will include a
mix of compatible uses such as a hotel, shops, dining, offices and/or residential uses.
The continued build out of the Newport Heights project has been hugely successful. This project will not
only provide needed housing, but will be a catalyst for increased value and land improvement in the district.
The Community College of Rhode Island’s new Newport campus is also thriving, with hundreds of students
enrolled. Academic and programmatic relationships with the Innovation Hub partners are being developed,
with a focus on evolving technical and scientific subjects, including areas relating to sea level rise and its
impacts. Newport will act as the perfect classroom for these creative and necessary efforts.
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Draft Existing Conditions (March 2016)