NORTH PROVIDENCE – As town officials and residents approach a fifth budget hearing later this week, Town Council President Dino Autiello says the council is working closely with department heads and the School Department to review every aspect of the proposed $137.6 million spending plan.
“There are still many difficult decisions ahead as we look for every possible way to reduce the pending tax increase and lessen the burden on taxpayers,” he said.
The Local Insider previously reported on a proposed 7 percent tax increase that would need state authorization to exceed a 4 percent cap.
The main drivers behind the inflated budget are a $3.3 million hit in revenue as Fatima Hospital transitions to new ownership, a $4.3 million bond payment as a first installment on new elementary schools, and a big increase in employee fringe benefits.
Autiello, who wrote a letter last week calling for more equitable education funding that meets costs, said the council and the mayor will also be sending a joint letter to the governor and the North Providence General Assembly delegation requesting their support in securing the $3.6 million owed to the town in taxes from Fatima Hospital.
“We strongly believe these funds should be provided from the additional $230 million in unexpected state tax revenue,” he said.
“This is money that rightfully belongs to our community, and receiving it would go a long way toward reducing the tax increase facing our residents,” he added. “We remain committed to doing everything we can to protect taxpayers while continuing to provide the services our residents depend on.”
Mayor Charles Lombardi reiterated this week that the spending plan is a lean one and doesn’t have much that can be trimmed. He said another meeting scheduled for May 29 might help crystalize the proposal, but he doesn’t expect any major items to help.
“I’m hoping everyone understands this is it, those are the numbers,” he said.
Dipping into reserves won’t do much beyond kicking the can down the road, he said, as the school bond payments will now be due every year.
The bills must be paid, said Lombardi, and that’s the message on the schools he’s conveying when people express frustration over it. He said his response to one resident angry over the tax increase was to ask him if he voted to build the new schools, and when the man responded that he did, he informed him that he also voted to spend more.
The mayor says he’s also been reminding people that the 90-cent increase last year and $1.45 increase proposed this year adds up to about 24 cents per year over a decade, after years without increases.
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