NORTH PROVIDENCE – The final tax increase for the coming fiscal year starting July 1 will be 4.82 percent over last year’s tax levy.
Town Council President Dino Autiello said the lower rate, down from the original proposed 7 percent jump, comes after the Rhode Island Department of Revenue approved of the town exceeding the state’s 4 percent tax cap by $603,858.
This year’s budget deliberations are winding down, with a final budget hearing planned for June 25 at 5 p.m.
The Local Insider reported in early May that two major budget impacts, a $3.3 million hit in revenue as Fatima Hospital is taken over by a new buyer, and a $3.7 million bond payment on new elementary schools, were leading to the need for a significant tax increase. Other than those two and a substantial increase in employee fringe benefits, the budget overall was very lean, said Mayor Charles Lombardi at the time of his $137.6 million budget plan.
But Autiello said that while the budget was lean, the council felt the need to find additional cuts. By the end of May, they were able to trim more than $1 million, he said, much of that from planned street paving.
The resulting tax rate increase for property owners is 68 cents, said Autiello, or $340 for the owner of a $500,000 home, not factoring in the town’s homestead exemption. The previous proposed increase was $1.45. The council also took $1.2 million from surplus funds to help solve this year’s budget puzzle, the first major scoop from North Providence’s rainy day accounts in many years.
Officials have emphasized that residents voted overwhelmingly for the new elementary schools, which was always going to lead to a significant spending increase. They’re also noting that other communities are in similar situations with their budgets this year.
