Stokes: State must support effort to bring back races - 3/3/2010
Newport Daily News
TIVERTON
Possible school cuts are draw at hearing
By Marcia Pobzeznik
Daily News correspondent
Word that there could be some drastic cuts in school operations next year, including closing one of Tiverton’s three new elementary schools to save money, drew some people to the public hearing Wednesday on the proposed budget for fiscal 2011.
The annual public hearing on the Budget Committee’s recommended budget precedes the financial town meeting, which will be held Saturday, May 8.
The public hearing attracted nearly all the Budget Committee members, excluding Chairman Jeff Caron, who had a family medical matter, and Arthur Moeller and Joseph Bento. The eight others voted during the first hour of the four-plus-hour meeting at Tiverton High School to take a stand on exceeding the 4.5 percent state-mandated cap on property tax increases, with the majority voting against exceeding the cap.
Vice Chairman Robert Coulter explained to the two dozen people in attendance — a number that grew to about 40 later in the night — that though the Budget Committee majority voted early on not to exceed the cap and has recommended a budget that is just below the cap, both the School Committee and Town Council are requesting budgets above the cap, and that presents “a dilemma.”
Just how far over the cap the town can go is not known, but Town Administrator James Goncalo, at the request of the Town Council, has inquired of the state how much over the cap voters legally would be allowed to go when voting on a budget during the financial town meeting.
The Budget Committee’s recommended budget gives the schools $1 more and the municipal side of government about $4,000 more.
The town’s separate budget request is $251,000 more than the Budget Committee’s recommended amount and would mean a tax increase of about $35 a year for the average homeowner, Goncalo said.
“That’s not much for the service the town is providing,” he said.
But Coulter pointed out that every increase, no matter how small, has an impact on people, particularly those on fixed incomes.
A couple of parents asked the Budget Committee how it decided to give the schools $1 more next year, and were told by Budget Committee member Thomas Parker, who recommended the $1 increase, that they had to basically level-fund both the town and school budgets to keep the increase under the cap. That, he said, largely is because the state reimbursement for motor-vehicle excise tax exemptions to the town is expected to be eliminated, resulting in a decrease of more than $1 million.
Nina Mills, who has a child at the Fort Barton elementary school, said she had just heard Wednesday that there was a possibility the school could close because of budget cuts, which she called “a travesty.”
The School Committee is requesting nearly $700,000 more than the Budget Committee is recommending. Superintendent William Rearick said that if the schools receive $1 more, a school closing and cuts to music and athletic programs are a real possibility, but the School Committee could also take more egregious steps, such as taking the town to court or imposing a contract on teachers.
T he state-aid figures the Budget Committee and School Committee are using in their budget projections are markedly different, with the Budget Committee using a number from a proposed funding formula that has not been approved by state lawmakers, and the School Committee using the governor’s aid number as recommended by the state Department of Education, which is 3.8 percent lower than the current year and $1.2 million less than the Budget Committee has predicted.
Many items in the budget were either reduced, level funded or eliminated. One line item that was zeroed out was funding for the East Bay Community Action Program.
Susan Schenck, executive director of the non-profit agency that oversees Head Start on Stafford Road, a food bank, and voucher programs for food and fuel, said nearly 1,000 households in town benefited from the program’s food and fuel services, and hundreds of other town residents were patients at the program’s medical and dental clinics in Newport. The program also provides 5,200 meals annually to the Tiverton Senior Center.
“We’re in a situation where we have to stay under the cap,” Coulter told Schenck. “Personally, I would have funded all of these items,” if it was economically possible, he said.
Goncalo thanked the Budget Committee for recommending the purchase of a new fire engine, police cars and trucks for the Department of Public Works, but told the committee that some of its decisions were “very short-sighted,” such as cutting money for the town’s membership to the Newport County Chamber of Commerce, which helps the town develop business plans, and Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns, which is an advocate for municipalities at the state level.
“Those are not the things in these times to not fund,” Goncalo said.
Voters will have the final say at the May 8 financial town meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at the high school. A quorum of 301 is required for the meeting to be called to order.
Send correspondent Marcia Pobzeznik e-mail at Pobzeznik@NewportRI.com.
WHAT’S NEXT
Tiverton will hold its annual financial town meeting on Saturday, May 8, starting at 9 a.m. at Tiverton High School, 100 North Brayton Road. A quorum of 301 registered voters is needed to conduct the meeting.
