Copyright The Boston Globe
That’s the takeaway from the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council’s latest analysis comparing every state’s revenues and expenditures. You can check out the full report here, or use RIPEC’s handy tool to see where we rank in every category. The bigger picture: It’s a pretty dense report, but it’s helpful to see where the state ranks in 31 categories, ranging from public safety spending (we’re quite high) to higher education spending (we’re quite low). The report found that Rhode Island spent $1,059 per capita on total government administration, substantially more than the averages in New England ($729) and the US ($688). But Rhode Island truly stands out in general government administration spending, “which applies to legislative and government -wide agencies and includes planning and zoning, central personnel, and administration.” The state spends about $479 per person and $7.09 per $1,000 of personal income on general government administration, which was good for the No. 1 ranking. Yes, but: Before you blame all government spending issues on Governor Dan McKee, RIPEC notes that the state ranked No. 3 in the same categories in 2018. The other highlights: On the revenue side, Rhode Island ranked No. 20 per capita in state and local taxes ($6,879 per person) but property taxes remain in the top 10 nationwide. On the spending side, the state ranks in the top 10 for elementary and secondary education spending, but is in the bottom 10 for higher education spending. RIPEC President and CEO Michael DiBiase offered this take: “Rhode Island state and local governments used federal funds — including generous pandemic aid — and increased tax revenues to spend over $14,000 per person in FY 2023. In areas like public safety, K-12 education, government administration, and housing and community development, this spending ranks us in the top ten nationally. We also saw high growth in social services and income maintenance, corrections, and highways. Targeted government investment can help spur economic development, but questions remain as to the efficiency of spending at this level, and what residents are receiving in return.” This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
