There are lots of things that are misleading about this story published on GoLocalProv. It is utterly ridiculous to report numbers like how many total tax dollars are being collected by different communities for the sake of comparison. You cannot compare a total number like this which is so dependent upon things like, I don’t know, the dramatic difference in the size of these communities?

In the 2010 Census, Providence had a population of 178,042. New Shoreham had a population of 1,051. Is anyone surprised that one of these communities is on the top of the list and the other on the bottom?

There’s more than size at play, but the least GLP could have done was to correct for population and present the per capita levy. All it takes is one quick Google search and we can get the 2010 Census numbers which are probably pretty damn close to the current population so we can get a decent, somewhat level playing field to compare cities and towns on. Here’s the 2010 Census numbers from the RI Department of Labor and Training.

So with 5 minutes in Excel (thanks, GLP, for making your charts images instead of tables), here’s a much more interesting list:

**Community** **FY12 Levy** **2010 Pop** **Per Capita**
New Shoreham \$8,187,149   1,051 **\$7,790**
Jamestown \$18,653,102   5,405 **\$3,451**
Barrington 
</td>
<td>
  \$55,162,905
</td>
<td>

  16,310

$3,382
East Greenwich \$44,015,850  13,146 **\$3,348**
West Greenwich \$17,703,664 6,135 **\$2,886**
Little Compton \$10,004,530   3,492 **\$2,865*
Narragansett \$44,732,180   15,868 **\$2,819**
Westerly \$63,547,705 
</td>
<td>

  22,787

$2,789
Charlestown 
</td>
<td>
  \$21,611,447

</td>
<td>

  7,827

$2,761
Portsmouth \$45,807,376  17,389 **\$2,634**
Warwick \$216,867,072 82,672 **\$2,623**
Middletown \$41,588,607 16,150 **\$2,575**
Newport \$63,519,526 24,672 **\$2,575**
North Kingstown \$67,598,341  26,486 **\$2,552**
Scituate \$25,492,269 10,329 **\$2,468**
Lincoln \$51,960,896 21,105 **\$2,462**
Foster \$11,221,591 4,606 **\$2,436**
Johnston \$68,570,772  28,769 **\$2,383** 
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td height="12">
  North Smithfield
</td>
<td>
  \$27,592,721
</td>
<td>
 11,967
</td>
<td>
  **\$2,306**
</td>
Smithfield \$49,357,148  21,430 **\$2,303**
Tiverton \$35,771,014  15,780 **\$2,267**
Cranston \$180,715,853  80,387 **\$2,248**
South Kingstown \$66,120,832  30,639 **\$2,158**
Hopkinton \$17,630,988  8,188 **\$2,153**
Glocester \$20,971,276  9,746 **\$2,152**
North Providence \$67,218,014  32,078 **\$2,095**
Warren \$21,971,276  10,611 **\$2,071**
Richmond \$15,705,615  7,708 **\$2,038**
Exeter \$12,619,379  6,425 **\$1,964**
Providence \$324,460,407  178,042 **\$1,822**
West Warwick \$52,337,257  29,191 **\$1,793**
Coventry \$61,860,355  35,014 **\$1,767**
Cumberland \$57,890,766 33,506 **\$1,728**
Burrillville \$26,687,010 15,955 **\$1,673**
Bristol \$35,697,780 22,954 **\$1,555**
Pawtucket \$96,340,757 71,148 **\$1,354**
Woonsocket \$53,984,558 41,186 **\$1,311**
Central Falls \$13,148,778  19,376 **\$679**