EAST PROVIDENCE — With the words “that was painless” uttered by Council President and Mayor Tommy Rose at the conclusion of a four-minute hearing Friday night, Oct. 23, the Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget season quietly came to a close in East Providence.
Mr. Rose’s remarks were in regard to the swiftness of the vote, as the City Council overwhelmingly approved the final version of the budget.
As can be gleaned from Mr. Rose’s comment, there was no further discussion on the appropriation of $179,463,356, which includes a 1.3 percent tax increase that takes effect upon the issuance of bills in July of next year.
Prior to the vote, Mr. Rose reminded his compatriots and those in attendance the numbers in the final version of budget “reflect and include everything we voted on last (budget hearing on October 17).”
City Finance Director Malcolm Moore told the Council Friday the 1.3 percent hike equates to approximately a 30 cent increase per every $1,000 of property value. Mr. Moore said, for instance, a single family home in FY15-16 will be taxed at a rate of $23.20 up per $1,000 from $22.95 this fiscal year.
The budget passed on a 4-1 majority as Mr. Rose, Ward 2 Councilman Helder Cunha, Ward 4 Councilman Tim Conley and At-Large Councilwoman Tracy Capobianco were in the affirmative. Ward 1 Councilman Bobby Britto, who said he ran and was elected on a platform including no tax increases, cast the lone dissenting vote.
At the previous week’s hearing, the Council voted to add $1.2 million in expenditures, the bulk of which ($560,000) is earmarked for the school department.
In addition, funding for the planned Fuller Library Community Learning Center in Kent Heights at a cost of $125,000 was put into the budget. Another $100,000 was added to the FY15-16 spending plan for structural repairs of the Looff Carousel at Crescent Park.
Another $60,000 was approved for the purchase of a road surfacing machine by the Public Works Department while $15,000 was set aside for improvements to the baseball field and fencing at Kent Height Playground.
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