Warwick taxes to increase as attempt to cut budget fails
7:37 AM Wed, Jun 03, 2009 | Permalink
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WARWICK -- Mayor Scott Avedisian's $280.8 million budget and an accompanying 73-cent tax rate increase will go into effect July 1 after the City Council Tuesday night failed to agree on a slightly slimmed down spending plan for the coming fiscal year. The council had laboriously nipped and tucked dozens of line items to find more than $500,000 in savings, but when it came time to vote on the amended budget, it was defeated 6-3. This is the third year in a row that the mayor's budget will be implemented exactly as proposed after the council could not agree on a revised version. According to the City Charter, the mayor's budget is enacted unless the council approves its own version. The council members who voted against the budget that they had spent hours amending Tuesday night were Steven Colantuono, Charles J. Donovan Jr., Raymond E. Gallucci, Steve Merolla, Joseph J. Solomon and Helen Taylor. The new tax rate will be $14.14 per $1,000 of assessed value, up from the current rate of $13.41 per $1,000. City officials have estimated that the increase will cost the average taxpayer, with a home valued at $200,000, an additional $146 a year. The other important vote of the night was one that shot down an attempt to lop nearly $2 million off the school budget. The move was the source of much speculation in the city this week and prompted more than 100 people to turn out for the budget meeting. After listening to more than 1 ½ hours of public comment - most of which were pleas for the local schools - the proposal to cut the school budget failed on a 5-4 vote. Council members who voted against the cut were Colantuono, Donovan, Merolla, Solomon and Taylor. The minority that voted for the cut consisted of Council President Bruce Place, John DelGiudice, Donna Travis and Gallucci. While the fiscal decisions made were important Tuesday night, they were anticlimactic compared to the fireworks that marked the start of the marathon budget meeting that lasted more than five hours. Angered when the majority of the council initially voted down the option of opening up the meeting to the public, a couple of the people in the audience stepped forward one by one to chastise the board for squelching democracy. After ignoring repeated requests from Place to return to their seats, three people were escorted out of the council chambers by a police officer. School Committee member Paul Cannistra, was one of them, telling the council he was outraged that some members had held a caucus on the budget as they considered a damaging cut to the schools. With the attempt to cut the school budget failing, school spending will be level-funded next year at roughly $164.6 million with about $123.9 million of that amount being funded by city tax dollars. Noting that an unusually large number of people had turned out for the final budget session, Solomon attempted to get the council to change its agenda to allow public comment. Donovan, Merolla and Taylor backed him, but they lost to the remaining five-member majority. Later in the night when it was time to tackle the proposed cut to the schools, Merolla broached the subject again and this time the council was unanimous in deciding to open the meeting up to 90 minutes of public comment. In explaining why he would not vote for taking the schools $1.9 million below level funding, Merolla said that the bottom line is that the city's children would ultimately pay the price. He noted that about 86 percent of the school budget is either contractual obligations or fixed costs, leaving school officials nowhere to cut but programs, supplies and other things that directly affect students. "So we know who we're punching in the face," he said. "It's the kids." Place and other council members who were in the minority on that issue, maintained that school spending needs to be curtailed and the budget for next year could sustain the cut because the school system will not be burdened by the need to pay $4.8 million in retroactive salaries to its teachers as it did this year. 
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Expect a tax increase up to the maximum allowed fy lay next year! Or a supplement tax increase for the schools!
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Be ready for a tax increase to the maximum allowed by law for the schools next year! OR a supplement tax!
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If 86% of the cost are fixed or contractual obligations I would say the problems lies with the people making the contracts. So once again the school committee gets rewarded for poor practices. Have they found the 3 million they overspent last year? The system is broke and the people who run it, the mayor, the city council, and the school committee have no brains or guts to fix it. We need a new structure, new blood these names are getting old and stale.
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I was at the meeting last night and spoke briefly when thanks to councilman Merolla, the public was finally allowed to be heard. Not being a good public speaker, I didn't say all I wanted to say but, believe I got my basic point across. I was pleased to hear that the budget cut for the school department did not pass. Council president Place's threat about the coming tax increase I find personally offensive. For many years I have paid taxes in Warwick and compared to most municipalities in the state, I have found the tax rate to be reasonable. Why complain about taxes when they pay for so many things that most take for granted. Do I think that properties should be re-assessed because of a decrease in value? Yes, but I have always found, again, compared to other cities and towns, in Warwick you get much more bang for your buck. As for our school system, despite a few issues, Warwick schools have been among the best. If you can look outside the box just a bit, you will see that our young people will have to compete against highly educated, and even more highly motivated individuals for their spot in this society. Our children are our most precious natural resource and our future. If we do not invest in them, then God help us all.
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What the town of Warwick needs is a budget for the city and schools to be voted on by the Taxpayers of Warwick at a Financial Town Meeting.
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I know who I won't be voting for next election. Luckly most of the City Council did the right thing. When we have democracts like DelGiudice voting for a cut in public schools then they have to go. I know the schools need reform but they still have to educate our children next year. I am more than willing to pay a little extra in taxes to educate my children.
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I am disgusted with this whole city. Last night's City Counsel meeting was disgraceful! What a joke! They are driving the residents right out of here. They are raising our taxes every year and destroying our school system. Why don't they just buy up all the houses, close all the schools and make it one big airport!!!
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The fact that Councilors Steven Colantuono, Bruce Place, John DelGiudice, Donna Travis and Ray Gallucci met behind closed doors at Gallucci house shows you that the fix was in. They might have even violated the open meeting laws.
They were just trying to play the game to show voters that they were trying to cut the tax rate. The truth is they should have taken that attitude when they agreed to extent the police, fire and municipal contract without making any changes to the costly employee benefits that continue to require millions in new tax dollars each year. (Lifetime healthcare, $600 cap on prescription drugs, $14 a week health co-pay) They locked in 86% of the budget with the healthcare & employee contracts.
Out of the remaining 14% most of it is fix costs they have little control over. The cuts they proposed were based on arbitrary figures, without talking to any of the department heads. They admitted this last night that they didn’t know what effect the cuts would have, totally irresponsible.
Its funny the only Republician, Colantuono the mayor’s ally voted against his budget. Word is the teacher’s union President warned him right before the vote on cutting the school budget telling him to remember who helped put him in office.
Most of these people are puppets to organized labor in the city.
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For the taxpayers who think the School Dept is doing a good job, why don't you go to the following website and check out the payroll and check registers.
http://www.oceanstatepolicy.org/
The whole school administration should be fired! What they are doing with our tax dollars is disgraceful! I'm sorry to inform you they don't give a damn about our children just their own selfish needs. The time for public comment on the School Budget was MONDAY night. It was advertised and on the websites. The school admininstration put out that scare call to parents so they could find people to support them because there was nobody there supporting them Monday. Here are two examples of where the School Administrations priorties lie: they close 20% of the city's elementary schools in 2 yrs yet have the nerve to put in a 2.25% for themselves when the whole country is in financial crisis. 2nd they are spending $77,0000 to bring trailers in to get their employees out of a building that has poor air quality yet we have the results of the air quality tests to prove that atleast one of our schools air quality is so much worse than the admin building. Children have had to be put on medication so they don't get headaches and vomit from their environment. These are a couple of things you missed at Monday nights meetings!
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The problem with the city council is that most of the members have realtives who work for the administration.
When they vote on healthcare contracts and city contracts they are voting on issues that directly effect their family members. Thats why nothing changed in terms of concessions when the 3 contracts were ratified in Feb.
Unfunded pension liability in city is over $250 million. Unfunded healthcare $365 million. These are the two areas that continue to suck tax dollars away from other programs and nothing was done by the schools or the city to make fiscal responsible changes.
Lat night the council was debating making cuts to the portion of the budget that has the least impact on taxes. They are afraid to tackle the real issues.
As Merolla said, one vote in June does not make a budget. It was the votes in February that cast the die for the max tax increase we in Warwick will now experience.
Voters need to wake up and take a close look at your council person or school committee member. Merolla and Solomon are the only ones who voted down the contract because they knew how it would effect the budget.
Last night was a big game to make people thing that these other people really care about the taxpayers. They only care about staying in office.
It is time to elect people who will represent the needs of the taxpayers first not the special interest groups in the city who make a small pay concession but their benefits are bankrupting the city.
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I am so disappointed that the council voted to give the school admin their whole budget. Everyone needs to do their homework. They are not going to pay the city back the 2.9 mill. They will still cut programs and they will be closing another school next year. If everyone truly with open eyes looked at what our school admin is about you to would be upset. They DO NOT care about the children in Warwick and they are going to continue to do what ever they want with our money. I hope everyone is prepaired for next year and just remeber that you asked for the budget not to be cut.
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I have to agree with some of the comments made at last nights meeting. When it was stated that there was a 4.8 million dollar line item for retro. pay to the teachers held over from last years budget that would not be paid out this year, but remains in the budget.
That the student population was projected to drop by 282 students for the 09-2010 year at a savings of 15,ooo per student or 4.2 million. The closing, of 4 schools and the elimination of 60 positions, but yet the school dept. was still requesting a nearly 5 million dollar increase.
This has to stop!!! I applaud Councilman Place, DelGiudice, Gallucci and Travis in there attempt to reduce the Mayors tax increase by 30%. Keep up the good work. The teachers claiming that all that matters are the children. What a short memory, my child for 4 years dealt with work to rule!!! What about the children?
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"I am more than willing to pay a little extra in taxes to educate my children."
Exactly what the teacher's union is counting on.
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Surely there are other places that cuts could be considered! What about police officers already collecting pensions and are now on the warwick payroll! What about city workers that actually do not work during paid work hours! What about decreasing the number of mandatory gym classes in our schools...4-5 days per week is somewhat overkill when the alternative is cutting after school sport programs or creative/art classes! Anyone else care to post some alternate proposals?
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Tony:
The pension and healthcare costs alone are going up over $2 million next year for the schools even with the reduction in employees. The same is happening on the city side. Salary expense on both the school and city side decreased.
When are people going to realize that its the benefits that are taking more and more tax dollars away from all other city and school services. $11 a week co-pays, $600 max out of pocket expense on prescription drugs, lifetime healthcare after 10 years of work. Who in private industry gets benefits like that.
Reform the benefits health and pension and services can be restored with "No New Taxes".
The politicians on the council will never do that, they are afraid of being booted out of office by the unions.
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Kim said:
"Surely there are other places that cuts could be considered! What about police officers already collecting pensions and are now on the warwick payroll! What about city workers that actually do not work during paid work hours! What about decreasing the number of mandatory gym classes in our schools...4-5 days per week is somewhat overkill when the alternative is cutting after school sport programs or creative/art classes! Anyone else care to post some alternate proposals?"
Reduce the number of Elementary Principals to 6 have them in charge of 3 schools a piece for a savings of 1.1 million in salary, than you can cut all Asst Principals out at the Jr and Sr high schools, have the guidance councils take over their responsibility for a saving of 935 thousand, and last cut all Directors of Art. Music etc and have the Elementary and Secondary Directors over see that instead of eating at Dave's Bar and Grill or spending time where they dont belong.
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