• Rhode Island is offering state employees up to $200 in reimbursement for costs related to refiling their taxes.
• The reimbursement follows a series of payroll glitches and botched W-2 forms caused by a new state accounting system.
• Problems with the new system included underpayments, overpayments, and incorrect employer information on tax documents.

The McKee administration is offering up to $200 to any state employee who incurred any additional expense in filing, and then having to refile, their taxes because of a series of botched paychecks and W-2s.

How did we get here? On April 15, also known as Tax Day, Patrick Crowley, the president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, called on the McKee administration to reimburse public service workers who had to refile their taxes because of a series of several payroll glitches.

On May 4, Thomas Verdi, the acting director of the Department of Administration, sent state workers a “Dear Colleagues” email that said:

“We recognize that the W-2 corrections released by the state may have resulted in additional tax preparation costs for individuals who had to amend their tax returns.

“To assist with this expense, the state will provide a one-time reimbursement for up to $200 for tax preparation and filing costs an employee incurred to amend a federal and/or state tax return directly related to the W-2Cs issued by the State of Rhode Island.”

More: How the new, $99M state payroll system put RI at ‘significant risk’

The latest in a litany of financial issues with state’s payroll system

The Department of Administration has not yet responded to Journal inquiries about the projected cost to the state.

But the list of well-publicized problems goes on and on.

They have included underpayments, overpayments, botched W-2s that misidentified their employer as the “Rhode Island Umbrella Company,” and a problem with Health Savings Account contributions where the employer and employee contributions were reported separately, instead of combined and will require new W-2Cs to go out to impacted employees. according to Department of Administration spokeswoman Karen Greco.

And about $220,000 in union dues inadvertently wound up in employee paychecks instead of being withheld from them.

MONTPELIER — Vermont Humanities announced the winners of the Vermont Book Awards for outstanding literature in 2025 on Saturday at a cocktail and dessert celebration in Montpelier, attended by almost 200 readers, writers, and supporters of literature and the humanities.

The winners in each of their respective categories were Sasha Hom for “sidework” (Fiction), Helen Whybrow for “The Salt Stones” (Creative Nonfiction), Carlene Kucharczyk for “Strange Hymn” (Poetry), and Mima Tipper for “Kat’s Greek Summer” (Children’s Literature). 

The celebration was held in the chapel in College Hall on the Greenway Institute campus. The room was full of writers, including previous winners of the Vermont Book Awards. The keynote speaker was Vermont Poel Laureate Bianca Stone, who is the author of multiple books of poetry, including “The Near and Distant World,” which came out in 2026, and “What is Otherwise Infinite,” which won the 2022 Vermont Book Award in poetry.

The winners of the Vermont Book Award each received a prize of $1,000 and a specially commissioned art object created by Vermont artist Bess French, a nationally and internationally exhibiting sculptural artist, whose work is inspired by the natural world and found objects.

Vermont Humanities Executive Director Christopher Kaufman Ilstrup also formally announced Vermont Reads 2026: “Charity and Sylvia,” by former Vermont Cartoonist Laureate Tillie Walden. Based on the true story of an early 19th century couple in Weybridge, Vermont, Kaufman Ilstrup said, “Here at Vermont Humanities, we can’t think of a better way to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States, than to uplift this gentle story of two women who grew up and came of age with our Country.”

The Vermont Book Awards are annual prizes for outstanding literature in Vermont, presented by Vermont Humanities. The event was supported by Phoenix Books, the Vermont Arts Council, the Norwich Bookstore, Montpelier Performing Arts Hub, Greenway Institute, Susan Z. Ritz, and the Vermont Department of Libraries.