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Rhode Island
RI offers state workers with botched W-2s reimbursement for tax filings
The Real Mansions of Rhode Island revealed
Here’s a brief look at 10 of the more notable mansions found in the Ocean State, listed in order of their values as assessed by their municipality.
Journal Staff
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.”
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.
Most, though not all, of the glitches were attributed to problems with the state’s buggy new $99 million finance and accounting system known as Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP, which launched in late 2025.
A Department of Administration spokeswoman told The Journal on April 15 that “significant progress has been made to ensure employees who required paycheck corrections are made whole,” but Crowley said his members “shouldn’t pay for mistakes they didn’t make.”
“That is why we are calling on the state of Rhode Island to reimburse state workers who have incurred expenses for refiling their taxes or may have to do so before problems are corrected.”
Olivia DaRocha, a spokeswoman for Gov. Dan McKee, said at that time that the administration was looking at potential ways to support impacted employees.
The email from Verdi to state workers included an “affidavit” for state workers to sign to verify how much, if anything, additional they had to pay to amend their tax returns.
With rain in the forecast on Monday for most of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, multiple municipalities have moved or canceled their plans to celebrate Memorial Day.
The following towns and cities have announced changes to their Memorial Day events:
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- Woonsocket: Memorial Day ceremony moved indoors to Harris Hall in City Hall
- New Bedford: Memorial Day parade canceled; wreath-laying ceremony to be held at Clasky Common Park at noon
- Charlestown: Memorial Day parade canceled
- Hope Valley: Memorial Day parade canceled
WEST WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — A police situation at a West Warwick hotel briefly closed part of I-95 South on Saturday afternoon.
Dozens of officers responded to the SpringHill Suites by Marriott off Route 2 around 3 p.m. Police cruisers blocked a nearby exit ramp, causing the closure.
According to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, travel lanes on I-95 South at Exit 24A were blocked for about 45 minutes before reopening.
Our 12 News crew on the scene reports that most of the police presence, including SWAT, cleared the area just after 4 p.m.
An ambulance was later seen leaving, and a car was towed from the back of the hotel. It’s unclear if anyone was taken into custody or where the investigation stands.
12 News has reached out to police for more information and will bring you updates both online and on WPRI-12.
Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts.
Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app.
A stray cat that bit a person in Burrillville, Rhode Island, tested positive for rabies, health officials said Saturday.
The person received post-exposure treatment meant to prevent them from contracting rabies, which is fatal once a person begins showing symptoms, according to the Rhode Island Department of Health.
The person was bitten on Wednesday, and the cat was found under a home’s deck on Whippel Road.
Anyone who came into contact with the cat was urged to call the department’s Center for Acute Infectious Disease Epidemiology (at 401-222-2577 on weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., or 401-276-8046 at other times) so they can be assessed in case they need treatment.
Cats, dogs and pets being kept as pets are required to be vaccinated against rabies in Rhode Island, but anyone who thinks their pet may have come in contact with the stray cat was urged to contact the Department of Public Health, local animal control and the animal’s veterinarian.
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