By ETHAN HARTLEY -- Steve Merolla has been involved in crafting city budgets for 20 years now. So when he said that the FY19 budget was going to be the most difficult yet, it resonated...
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
|
Newly elected City Council President Steve Merolla has been involved in crafting city budgets for 20 years now. So when he said that the FY19 budget – for which budget hearings officially kicked off Tuesday night – was going to be the most difficult to wrangle in his career, he didn’t seem to be blowing smoke.
As the meeting concluded around midnight close to seven hours later, and with about two dozen departments left to go over on Wednesday evening, it was even more difficult to disagree with him.
“This isn’t my budget,” acting Mayor Joseph Solomon said at the onset of Tuesday night’s hearing, adding that it was the first time in 18 years that former Mayor Scott Avedisian put forward a budget that included no tax increases.
Solomon announced during the hearing he had hired the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council to examine the city’s financial situation and get a “true, objective picture as to where we stand going forward.” Solomon said he made this decision in large part because city finance director Bruce Keiser unexpectedly resigned earlier this month and city treasurer Brian Silvia will leave once budget hearings conclude. The consulting services cost $16,000.
Most of the 25 departments that appeared before the council were presenting level funded budget lines, not surprising considering Avedisian crafted a “maintenance budget,” which does not increase funding for any one department and instead gives Solomon and the council the responsibility to move funds around at their discretion in order to balance the budget.
However, Merolla said that there is an approximate $14.5 million shortfall between where the budget stands level funded and where departments are calculating where they need to be. Primary drivers of the gap are salary and step increases for collective bargaining groups, including the police department and municipal workers. The firefighter union has still yet to reach a new agreement, and the majority of the gap comes from the request of an additional $8.1 million from the school department in city allocation.
“This budget is just beyond belief,” Ward 5 Councilman and finance committee chair Ed Ladouceur said. “In spending countless hours reviewing it and needing many more hours to come up with a conclusion, I'm finding at every turn when we turn over a shell we find something different than what you would normally expect.”
As the hearing proceeded, the council learned from city planner William DePasquale that there is still no solid plan in place on what to do about the City Hall Annex building, which still sits in disrepair after a pipe burst in January. However, DePasquale said Solomon was treating it as a top priority and would be meeting with adjusters about insurance payouts.
“That was his first call,” he said. “Once we find a manner in which the adjusters can properly assess that building and the city is made whole, or at least what we feel is whole, we will move forward.” DePasquale mentioned the possibility of building new or possibly leasing space, but that the decision that is best for the taxpayers would have to be made eventually. School department grilled
The main event for the night, which took over three hours to discuss, was the school department appearing to present their ask for approximately $8.1 million in additional funding from the city, which would represent a greater than 6 percent increase over the city’s contribution from last year.
School department finance director Anthony Ferrucci and superintendent Philip Thornton presented their case to the council for the additional funds. They said that despite ongoing consolidation of schools – nine schools have been closed since 2008, including three elementary schools to be closed at the conclusion of this year – declining enrollment and decreased funding from the state, among other expenses, has exacerbated a growing fiscal problem for the schools.
Of the proposed $171 million budget for the schools, Ferrucci illustrated how $138.4 million of that (81 percent) is tied up in salaries in benefits. Of the approximately $33 million remaining, a significant portion of that goes to transportation, costs of providing out-of-district tuition and insurance, as well as the cost of keeping buildings operational.
Among the most significant cost burdens included in the new budget is over $5 million in contract salary increases and step increases for union and WISE teachers. Additional transportation costs associated with consolidation are around $900,000, while out of district costs equal about $630,000. This is compounded upon by an additional loss of $782,000 in funding from the state and $844,000 lost from declining enrollment.
“We know what our needs are and we've planned accordingly,” said Ferrucci. “We understand your situation and I hope you understand our situation...We all want to achieve the same things, which is to have a school department that is the best in the state that we all can be proud of, and to say we made it through our darkest hours and now we're moving forward into the light.”
The situation that the city is in, regardless of subjective opinions, is the fact that they can only raise a possible $6.3 million in tax revenue if they were to enact the highest possible increase in taxes. They could potentially secure a waiver from the legislature to raise that rate higher, but that does not appear to be feasible at this time.
Multiple councilmen asked Thornton if there was any number he had in mind that he may consider acceptable in lieu of receiving the full $8.1 million the department is seeking. Thornton said it wasn’t his place to amend the school committee’s approved budget on the fly, and that he would continue to advocate on behalf of receiving the full funding requested.
“What can we do while only being able to raise $6.3 million?” asked Ward 2 Councilman Jeremy Rix. “It's just disconcerting to see a lack of ability to compromise…How can we build a bridge here and come together and best use the money that we have to give the students support and an excellent education? I just do not see any way possible that we can raise this $8.1 million that's in this budget.”
Others were less compromising to the representatives from the school department,
“I think you wasted money,” said Ward 6 Councilwoman Donna Travis, to the delight of the teachers’ union representatives in the audience. “I don’t think you did your homework.”
Ward 3 Councilman Tim Howe asked if there was overlap within costly administrative positions that could be rolled into fewer positions. He identified three positions – the chief academic officer, director of assessment and instructional curriculum and the coordinator of teaching and learning – whose combined salaries add up to about $350,000.
However, Thornton defended the necessity of these positions, as they perform different functions. He also followed up on Wednesday morning explaining how such propositions don’t take into consideration the real problem that has caused the school department’s unfavorable situation: a lack of adequate funding.
Thornton explained in his introduction to the council at the hearing that the schools are currently receiving about $1.5 million less in funding from the city than they did in 2010, and that this lack of funding has been compounded on by teacher pensions, money spent on students attending charter schools out of district and ongoing debt service for a 2006 school repair bond, for which the schools have shouldered the burden of the principal and interest payments year to year.
School Committee member vice chair Eugene Nadeau has continuously harped on this burden, and reiterated last night that Warwick is the only school district in the country which has been saddled with paying principal and interest payments on a school bond. That expense is $1.75 million in the proposed budget and will increase to about $1.825 million in future years.
“These problems have not just developed this year,” Thornton said on Wednesday. “This is a historic problem going back many years. This [problem we’re faced with now] has been a long time coming.”
In the background of the entire conversation, which both Merolla and Ladouceur mentioned, is the lingering possibility that the school department could sue the city if they are level funded or given an inadequate amount of funding to satisfy the state’s Basic Educational Plan. Such a move is known as a Caruolo Action, and the schools have already gone out to bid for an auditor in the case they need to pursue this option.
Ladouceur took issue with this strategy, saying he was concerned about how Thornton and the school committee seemed to be drawing a “line in the sand,” and that the council has to do its due diligence on behalf of the taxpayers.
“An aggressive offense is going to generate an aggressive defense,” he said.
BUSY BUT NOT PACKED:
The City Hall council chambers were buzzing but not overcrowded on Tuesday night for the start of budget hearings to discuss the FY19 city budget. (Warwick Beacon photos)
MAKING HIS CASE:
Superintendent Philip Thornton answers questions during the school department’s turn at the budget hearing.
10 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Scal1024
No comment from fake mayor Corrente? Could it be because he realizes that with all the problems in this budget he'd have to admit his "cut taxes" slogan is nonsense in challenging economic times? Or because he knows he'd have to address what line items in the budget he would cut to realize any kind of savings? What is fake mayor Corrente's solution to the budget? Blow up the entire budget with irresponsible pet projects and giveaways that this man has no clue how he'll even pay for. The next few budgets in Warwick are going to be crucial toward our future. Rick Corrente CANNOT BE TRUSTED to "cut spending" when after almost 4 years he can't tell you a single thing he'd cut. This pathetic campaign he's run is full of talking points, empty rhetoric and a willingness to raise fees on ANYONE he has to in order to pay for his terrible ideas. Warwick can do so much better than a candidate with noted tax delinquency, litigation trails as far as the eye can see, and a "plan" that in 4+ years of running he hasn't bothered to determine what anything will cost. When does this mans empty rhetoric end? Voters want specifics Rick, not ridiculous, childish "that was my idea" comments.
Thursday, May 31, 2018 Report this
richardcorrente
First to address a related topic that is not in the budget. Gene Nadeau is 100% right when he comments about the interest on the 2006 bond. Any money BORROWED by the City, should be PAID by the City. This should be cleared up for any new bond issue as well and I don't think it is. This will continue to be a growing problem until it is resolved.
As to the School Committee (SC):
How could you lay off 72 MORE teachers and close 9 MORE schools AND need $8 million MORE in your budget. Didn't you just cut expenses by more than the $8 million?? Didn't you make allowances in past budgets for teachers raises?? And you don't want to be audited??!! I can see why! I sincerely hope the $16,000 that acting Mayor Solomon is spending to receive an audit of Warwicks' entire $300+ million dollar budget exposes the clear overspending on the part of the School Committee (SC). I bet it will! The SC MUST be overspending on administration. They MUST be, and the public is watching them. Why else would they hire a PR firm if they weren't receiving such distrust from the 80,000 taxpayers that are paying the tab? They MUST be overspending on themselves and it MUST STOP! Now, the SC is threatening to sue the City? Hey SC; be careful what you ask (or threaten) for. A lawsuit will most probably reveal where ALL your money is going. ALL of it! Extortion is a deadly game and I honestly can't see how you can win it. Remember; burden of proof is upon the plaintiff. To prove your claim against the City, you would have to show the judge just what you did with ONE AND A HALF BILLION DOLLARS OF TAXPAYERS MONEY SINCE 2009! I for one don't think you can. (Remember the Ragosta Report? You went to court on that one too. How did that work out for you? (Any reader can search The Ragosta Report in The Warwick Beacon, on line)
Now finally, as to Scal1024, who calls me a fake when he doesn't even use a real name. What's my solution Scal? I have answered this question dozens of times before. Did I type it too fast for you? Add taxpayers! That's the solution Scal. Get back some of the 5,800 taxpayers that have left Warwick in the last ten years. The Corrente Plan, if you ever read it, shows "rebate checks" to new homebuyers and new business owners that come from other cities and towns, a "2 year moratorium on building permits", "promotion of Warwick, and especially its' beaches" to other cities and towns to attract new residents, "voluntary pension buyouts" to lower pension costs, and a "hiring freeze", to insure that our present employees are taken care of while attrition lowers their numbers and ultimately their cost. Scal wants me to say what "one item I will cut" so he can attack me on it. He isn't too bright. He acts like he/she doesn't realize that if you increase population, you increase the NUMBER of taxpayers thus allowing Warwick to "Cut-Taxes" on each individual.
New taxpayers increase total tax revenue (TTR). If we increase TTR, we don't need to cut budgets in order to "Cut Taxes - Cut Spending". I've been saying that now for years. Everyone I meet understands it. So does Scal. He's not that stupid. He just wants to con the reader to believe I cannot be trusted. He is obviously a henchman for the political insiders. My plan is transparent and has been on line for years. (correnteformayor.com) Has Scal, or anyone else asked Joe Solomon what HIS plan is?
Whatever his/her real name is, Scal is the fake. Not me. You can agree with The Corrente Plan or disagree with it. That's OK with me. But to say that I don't have a plan? That I don't have a "solution to the budget"? That is just a lie from someone who isn't honest enough to give a real name.
Fake News. Fake sources. Fake people. Fake names.
Congratulations and gratitude to all members of the City Council on their enormous effort.
Happy Summer everyone.
Rick Corrente
The Taxpayers Mayor
Thursday, May 31, 2018 Report this
CrickeeRaven
Wow, Scal, look how the make-believe mayor tries to counter your factual statements -- once again, by trying to shout you down and engaging in more pathetic behavior.
"Remember; burden of proof is upon the plaintiff," writes the make-believe mayor, who is making baseless accusations of "extortion" against the school committee.
His hypocritical statement is further compounded by repeating the lie of 5,800 residents leaving Warwick, while not only providing no proof but also ignoring the actual fact (already presented in another comment board where he repeated this lie) that the population decrease was 4,200.
So, Scal, more of the same from the make-believe mayor: repeating lies, offering no details, and calling true facts "fake." It will be a joy to watch his second futile campaign end in abject failure.
Thursday, May 31, 2018 Report this
Scal1024
The Corrente Plan:
1. Rebate checks to new homeowners= NEW SPENDING
2. 2 year moratorium on building permits= NEW SPENDING
3. Voluntary pension buyouts= NEW SPENDING
New taxpayers aren't moving here day 1 Rick. You have to pay for all of these things up front. That $$$ will need to be taken from what is called a LINE ITEM in the budget. Since in 4 years you CANNOT NAME ONE LINE ITEM YOU WOULD CUT your entire campaign is empty words. Once again, you know you are wrong (just like you're wrong on your tax delinquency, your campaign cashing bounced checks, and your inability to understand basic math and budgeting, dummy) so you attack me. Pathetic.
Rick I don't ask what spending you will cut so I can attack you. I ask because you CANNOT achieve 1 single thing from your "plan" until you identify where that spending is coming from. Otherwise (I'll say it slow for you, you pandering dummy) IT IS NEW SPENDING. If you aren't paying for rebate checks, pension buyouts and permit freezes with NEW SPENDING the only way you will achieve those savings is by raising taxes. Saying anything else makes you a lying, pandering, fraud who thinks voters are just as stupid as you are.
As your dismal campaign has shown voters are much smarter and people continue to prove that to you with each comment. There is no counter to my argument Rick. Unless you identify the cost, and where the $ comes from YOU ARE THE FAKE! This is why Mayor Walsh, Camille, the Galucci brothers, Donna Travis (all Democrats you've spoke highly of, just like you ALWAYS have of Mayor Solomon) AND MORE have all got behind Joe Solomon. Its about trust Rick and you have never been honest with voters since day 1. We need a mayor who actually knows how to pay bills, that person Rick, is not you.
Thursday, May 31, 2018 Report this
richardcorrente
Dear Scal1024,
Your comments have nothing to do with the above article but if you're going to continue to lie, I have to continue to correct you. It gives me the opportunity to repeat my campaign platform too. Thanks for that.
1. You called my "Tax Rebate Program" new spending. It's not. If we give a tax rebate to acquire a new taxpayer we are losing small money to receive big money. That is something I will do anytime. It will add to the TOTAL TAX REVENUE.
2. You called my "Two-Year Moratorium on Building Permits Program" new spending but here again, Warwick would lose small money to entice homeowners to add an addition or a garage that the homeowner would willingly pay more taxes on FOREVER, again adding to the TOTAL TAX REVENUE.
3. Finally you said that my program for "Voluntary Pension Buyouts" would also be new spending when the opposite is true.
Giving the retiree a lump-sum check, even if Warwick borrowed the money, would cost the City LESS MONEY! The savings would certainly add to the TOTAL TAX REVENUE.
So what is it Scal? Are you too stupid to understand basic economics or are you just trying to con the reader? (anonymously of course, because you are too much of a coward to stand by your comments by using your real name.) Then you say that I can't be trusted? Scal! You can't even be trusted to use your own name!
Fake News. Fake Sources. Fake People. Fake Names.
Happy Summer everyone.
Rick Corrente
The Taxpayers Mayor
Sunday, June 3, 2018 Report this
Scal1024
Rick, YOU ARE ACKNOWLEDGING ITS NEW SPENDING WHEN YOU SAY "LOSE A LITTLE" to gain alot. The problem is the "gain" doesn't come soon, the $ HAS TO come from somewhere. It isn't hard to see why your personal finances have been an issue for you. When you say "lose a little, gain alot" YOU ARE ACKNOWLEDGING NEW SPENDING. The "new taxpayer" won't be gained immediately, and your solution is to borrow money? You claim the city is bankrupt. Your solution? MORE BORROWING and MORE SPENDING. Every one of your "points" ackowledged NEW SPENDING. You try and hide it behind this false idea it will cost "less money" over time. That still means the city will be SPENDING $ UPFRONT.
Once again, the fake mayor FAILS to say "here is my plan, the money will come from ____ and this will cost the taxpayer _____." The man has had 4 years and he can't even bother to tell you where the money comes from OR how much ANY of his "plans" will cost. He wants voters to forget that he's been running for 4 years and he can't tell you how he'd lower taxes, or even what taxes he'd lower. This failure also hasn't even come up with ONE LINE ITEM IN THE BUDGET (spending) HE'D CUT. 4 YEARS!!!!!
I'd also like voters to look at the article above on beach fees. Rick made a bunch of false claims, was then called on each of them and he never responds. He hides under this article hoping nobody would notice what an embarrassment he is. Too bad people have been paying close attention to this lying, ill informed, tax delinquent, fraud. Corrente wants the City Council to rush beach fees into action, without ANYONE doing a cost estimate of the program, or an estimate on how much revenue the program would create. The problem with this is if it costs more to implement the beach fee program, than the program makes in revenue TAXPAYERS WOULD BE ON THE HOOK. This man who claims he'd "cut taxes cut spending" wants to RAISE BEACH FEES for EVERY driving resident on the very first campaign issue of the season. I shared my ideas on an article of HOW NOT TO RAISE FEES on WARWICK RESIDENTS. Rather than give me credit because I'm smarter than him, Rick instead told voters I was lying. (That article was May 22nd 2018 about acting Mayor Solomon not wanting to raise fees.) This is his favorite game to play when he's called on his tax delinquency, his campaign cashing a bounced check, his willingness to RAISE FEES on residents, or his inability to tell voters WHERE THE $$$ COMES FROM on his proposals.
If Corrente is willing to jam beach fees through, without knowing the cost or the amount of revenue created, what other programs will he implement without knowing the cost leaving taxpayers on the hook? This is the problem with Rick Corrente NEVER ACKNOWLEDGING THE COST of his "plans". He's not going to lower your taxes, and with all his "plans" there is NO WAY he's going to be able to cut spending. This dishonest fraud can continue to say things 1,000 times. It will NEVER make them true. This is why I encourage readers to look at the links CrickeeRaven provides (through great work). It shows the fiscal trainwreck Corrente is, and proves what a liar he is in black and white. Voters don't need a snake oil salesman who can't pay his taxes on time. They need a serious Mayoral candidate which Rick Corrente has NEVER BEEN.
Sunday, June 3, 2018 Report this
CrickeeRaven
As you rightly point out, Scal, when the make-believe mayor is not outright lying, he's contradicting his own statements, proving that nothing he says can be trusted.
And as I've noted before, he's doing this to himself. I certainly appreciate your compliments for the information that I have found and shared about the make-believe mayor, but it's clear that, given enough time, he'll say opposite of something he said before.
Probably the most pathetic part of the make-believe mayor's behavior -- and there are many pathetic things about how he acts -- is that he seems to think this is how candidates are supposed to conduct themselves. Instead of actually informing himself, gathering correct facts and data, and attending budget meetings [Warwick Watch recently called him out on their Facebook page for not showing up], the make-believe mayor has constructed a fake reality for himself, where repeating lies, bullying online commenters, and using a website for free political advertising somehow makes him a legitimate candidate.
And for all his whining about "fake" this and that, he's using a fake title, fake numbers, and a fake narrative about his support in the city.
So, let's continue to provide the real facts while the make-believe mayor humiliates himself with every new comment. He arguably doesn't need our help to prove his complete unfitness for office; still, I'm sure you agree that our fellow honest, taxpaying voters need the clearest picture possible of him and his lies so they know they are right when they overwhelmingly reject his candidacy again this year.
Monday, June 4, 2018 Report this
Justanidiot
eyes cant wait until master mayer gets re-erected. tink of it taxes slashes and services increased. works yer magic mayer
Tuesday, June 5, 2018 Report this
wwkvoter
Corrente thinks that if we taxpayers PAY SOMEONE to move here, they will pay us back in property taxes.
But the home is ALREADY paying property tax! No home or commercial building is off the tax rolls when unoccupied.
Corrente is delusional. Why is he still spamming these comments? Why doesnt he even attend budget hearings?
As a taxpayer, I thank God we have a real, qualified and professional mayor named Solomon.
Thursday, June 7, 2018 Report this
CrickeeRaven
WwkVoter, you rightly point out a major defect in the make-believe mayor's claims about the tax giveaways that he thinks will bring in new homeowners: Residential and commercial taxes are paid on properties whether they are occupied or not, so the "tax rebate checks" he mentions would result in a net loss of revenue.
As Scal has also correctly noted, that money has to come from somewhere -- and the make-believe mayor refuses [or is unable] to identify what that source would be, so any "rebates" would wind up costing the city more and raise taxes on the rest of the taxpayers in the city, not cut them.
Probably the worst part about the make-believe mayor's giveaway plans is that they are selective and arbitrary -- Why should someone who moves into the city next year get a benefit that someone who bought a home in 2017 not get? Why should new commercial construction get its permit fees waived when a competitor did not?
And most importantly for our discussion, why should Warwick make special accommodations during a limited time for things that have been consistently happening for years, i.e., home purchases and business construction?
Thursday, June 7, 2018 Report this