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Why are the physical school buildings in Warwick in such bad shape?

The answer to that question is that in 2006 voters approved of plans by the school committee to borrow $20 million in bonds over a five year period for fire safety and capital improvement projects ranging from new boilers, roofs, auditorium repairs, technology enhancements, etc., for elementary and secondary schools throughout the city.

With construction projects ready to begin, the mayor abruptly decided to freeze all capital spending in 2007 as a result of the deteriorating financial condition of the city (btw - that never was properly reported at the time and still isn’t being reported - i.e. glaring headlines of recent so called surplus).

Anyone remember the big controversy regarding the leaky Pilgrim High School roof in 2007 and the mayor not willing to release the funds needed for a new roof even after part of a classroom ceiling crashed down on a student and experts testified that a new roof was needed?

So while school buildings crumbled, the educational budget was cut or level funded year after year (today it is slightly higher then what it was in 2008), yet annual increases in property taxes continued. Remember the CAR TAX REVLOT resulting from new motor vehicle taxes was enacted? Practically all those new tax dollars collected was allocated to the city budget.

For the first time ever (and I believe the only school system in the state) the Warwick school department is required to fund out of its general educational budget all capital improvement projects on school buildings that the city once paid for from its budget.

In the last decade taxpayer paid over $23 million in new taxes to fund increases in employee benefits ranging from salary, pension and free lifetime healthcare for retired workers.

These cost that once consumed 31% of the city budget now consumes 43% of the city budget, yet we couldn’t afford to spend less dollars to ensure that the buildings our children and teachers and administrators frequent every single day are safe and conducive to properly educating our children?

That is why the school buildings are in such bad shape!

The structural problems in this city associated with legacy costs have once again been swept under the rug the mayor and the city council. They keep blaming the tax increases on school spending when in fact its city spending.

Current liabilities in the city are over $1 BILLION and growing each year and while the school budget is cut, programs are slashed and schools are closed in order for school leaders to take the saving and self invest back into the school budget, city leaders on the other hand are not held to the same standards.

They continue to increase spending each year to new record levels requiring more and more new tax dollars to fund retired employee benefits. That trend has no sign of abating because Mayor Avedisian and the City Council refuse to address the issue.

But don't expect our spending priorities to change if we continue to put the same people back in charge of our tax dollars every two years.

From: School closures could save $4.4M

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