Live Blog: City Council Budget Adjustment Meeting

The City Council is meeting tonight in the auditorium of Cranston High School East for its last budget hearing before adopting the fiscal 2012 budget. Tonight is the night the council makes cuts and amendments to the mayor's proposed budget. This story will be updated as the meeting progresses.

We originally reported on the mayor's proposed budget . It calls for a 3.99 percent tax increase to account mostly for increasing pension costs and contractual obligations. 

Residents tax increase last month.

7:45 p.m.: The council spent about 15 minutes at the start of the meeting debating whether to make cuts and increases to line items in separate batches or to do them together. Councilman Steven Stycos said most of his proposed cuts were tied to increases in other line items. For example, he is proposing eliminating the $20,000 appropriated to the Tax Assessment Board of Review and giving that money to the libraries. 

Stycos' suggestion was shot down by the council at large. That means they'll take turns proposing cuts. When finished, they'll take turns proposing increases. The decision was reached after a majority of council members said Stycos' idea would be too "cumbersome."

7:51 p.m.: The council is hearing from residents. Manny Lopes said residents cannot afford a tax increase. 

"If we see tax increases at election time, we're going to get rid of you," he said.

Bobby Bach, owner of on Wilbur Ave., said the mood among residents in Cranston has soured in recent years, due in part to tax increases every year. Sidewalks are crumbling, city properties aren't properly kept and maintained and throughout the city, there are signs of "decay and neglect," he said.

The practice of "looking at residents and taxpayers as an endless supply of money needs to change," Bach said. "Reject the tax increase, send it back to the mayor and tell him to do a better job."

Bob Smith echoed Bach's sentiments. He said "Cranston is a jewel, a wonderful place to live," but the increasing tax burden is forcing him to consider leaving once his son graduates from Cranston High School West. Unless the city fixes the structural budget problems, such as its increasing unfunded pension liability, Smith said the tax increases won't do anything to reign in costs.

"I want my firemen treated well," Smith said. "They're the ones who are going to get up in the middle of the night and save my ass. I want my teachers paid well, they're molding my kids. They have to be paid well. But we all have to sit in front of the unions and say 'look, we've got to fix this.' We can't have these outrageous contracts anymore."

8:02 p.m.- School Committeewomen Stephanie Culhane and Janice Ruggieri addressed the council and urged them to adopt the mayor's proposed budget to prevent more negative impacts on students.

Ruggieri also asked the council to amend the budget to increase a pension line item from $2.4 to $2.7 million to prevent a structural deficit. 

8:08 p.m.- Councilman Paul Archetto said he is hearing "mixed messages" since several residents are demanding no tax increases while others are urging for increased school funding.

8:10 p.m.- Resident Manny Miguel warned the council to avoid "plug numbers" to balance the budget. He used last year's plan to turn off streetlights to reduce the electricity bill as an example. While it helped balance the budget, he said, the end result was an outcry from residents so the lights were turned back on. So there was no savings.

"I bet 30 cents [of the 75 cents per $1,000] of the increase in this budget is to make up for mistakes in last year's budget," Miguel said.

The council could use expected union concessions to balance the budget. Miguel said he'd like the council to "make sure you have that concession before you put the number there."

(Mayor Allan W. Fung with the police and fire unions last month.)

8:16 p.m.- Fung addressed the council and said he recognizes the challenge the council is facing. He said he had to respond to "political rhetoric" from some commentators who suggest all the city has done in recent years is raise taxes.

"You should have seen that the operations budget during my administration have gone down," Fung said. "Not a single department has been spared. While the cuts may not have been as extensive as some people would have liked, I can't sit in good conscience and listen to some of the political rhetoric thrown out there that there have been no cuts and all we're doing is raising taxes. That is absolutely not true."

"Yes, I have raised taxes," Fung said. "The problem comes down to is the fact that the tax increases are literally to deal with those uncontrollable costs."

Fung said the operations budget has been cut so severely, the only option left is the total elimination of some departments, such as Parks and Recreation or Senior Services.

"If you want to get rid [of the departments] you might get there to avoid the tax increase, but what kind of environment would we be living in?"

"You could get rid of garbage collection. That's five million right there," Fung said. "But that still isn't enough to avoid a tax increase."

8:35 p.m.- Councilman Michael W. Favicchio moves for a cut to the Tax Assessment Board of Review from $20,000 to $8,000. He justified the cut by noting that this year is a "slow year" for the board and the line item will increase dramatically next year because of the ongoing revaluation. He also noted that other boards that require similar expertise are unpaid.

"They need to be paid for what they do but I don't think they'll need the same number because of anticipated fewer meetings," Favicchio said.

Stycos said he'd like to move to amend the proposal to eliminate the pay for the board entirely. 

"This board has not done a good job," Styocs said. "They have met in secret, they have not kept minutes. They have met for 23 minutes and collected their $50. I don't have any confidence in this board. They also have been granting an increasing number of abatements which the budget projects is going up and every time they grant an abatement that means all the rest of us will be paying more taxes to make up the difference."

Stycos said the School Committee doesn't get any money. 

Councilman Anthony Lupino said to characterize a tax abatement as a "giveaway" is disingenuous. He said the board adjusts assessments to account for mistakes.

"We have assurances that some of the misconceptions that the board had in the past are taken care of. They're on notice. I can't stress the fact with this new revaluation that's going to occur, their  involvement which will not occur until next fiscal year, I can't stress how important this board is."

Stycos' amendment passed, but the vote on the amended motion to eliminate the entire amount failed. That means the line item did not get cut after all.

8:46 p.m.- the City Solicitor steps in tells Pelletier that the council erred in amending Favicchio's motion before voting on it. That means Favicchio's proposal to cut $8,000 is back on the table.

It also appears Pelletier made an error with his vote. He originally voted with the majority to amend Favicchio's motion but voted against the amended motion to eliminate the line item entirely. When it was brought to his attention by Styocs, he offered a new motion to reconsider the vote. 

That vote passed 4-2.

Now the motion is to reduce the amount to $7,500.That failed. That leaves the council having to vote on Stycos' amendment to reduce the line item to $0.

Before the vote, Lupino asked the solicitor if the board isn't paid and nobody shows up, could someone sue the city for not having the right of due process.

The answer: the council would have to appoint a new board if the current board refused to serve.

The vote passed 4-2, which means the line item finally landed at $0.

8:55 p.m. Councilman Jim Donahue proposes reducing the police salary schedule by $7,840 to account for an error in the mayor's proposed budget. There are no raises for administrative personnel next year and the cut would reflect that, Donahue said.

The cut passed unanimously. 

Donahue also proposed cuts totaling about $9,680 in benefits in correlation with the salary reduction. This also passed unanimously.

9:02 p.m.- Donahue proposes cutting $100,000 from the capital budget slated for roof replacement at the pool house at Budlong Pool. 

Director of Administration Robin Muksian-Schutt said the line item was put into the budget in error and there is no plan to repair the roof next year.

Archetto said the pool is an important city asset and numerous residents have complained the pool was closed. 

"It is a unique historic part of our city so we need not neglect it," Archetto said.

The motion passed with Archetto as the lone dissenter.

9:06 p.m. - Donahue's last amendment would cut the workforce investment act line item and two others for a total of $5,279 in cuts. The adjustments are due to the fact that the workforce investment act employee salaries are tied to Providence, where the salaries are going down.

Schutt said the funds are expected to come through the grant next year and if the grant funds dried up, the employees would be eliminated. They would, however, be able to collect unemployment if the grant was cut because they are city employees.

The motion passed unanimously.

9:10 p.m.- Now it's Pelletier's turn. He proposed cutting economic development salaries by $102,333. The justification: during budget hearings, Pelletier said, it became clear that the line item could be funded through grants the city has in place.

"I have actually five budget line items regarding those line items that could be funded through the revolving loan fund."

Archetto asks if Pelletier's assertion is accurate.

Schutt replies: a percentage of the salaries could be covered through the Revolving Loan Fund because of administrative costs within the grant, but she does not believe the entire $102,333 could be covered. She declined estimating what the percentage would amount to.

Pelletier tacked on four more positions to his amendment, creating a total savings of $147,146. 

Donahue said he was concerned that using grant funds to fund the position is a "temporary situation for such a relatively small department budget wise" and eliminating economic development now, "when the city needs economic development more than ever, sends the wrong message to the business community."

Pelletier said he is not proposing to eliminate the positions and merely shifting the cost of funding them into grants that he believe are available.

Archetto said he wanted to commend Pelletier for trying to cut the budget, but in the tough eonomic times the city is in, economic development is importnat.

"Economic Development is an essential part of our City Hall administration. I don't mind reducing its budget from $146,000 but to totally eliminate the budget and say they will apply for their own grants sounds like a dangerous situation to me and I can't support this," Archetto said.

Favicchio said he's leery of making cuts to the entire budget.

The motion failed 5-1.

Next, Pelletier proposed cutting the police severance line item by $175,000. A second for fire severance of $275,000 brings the total to $450,000. Both line items would be zeroed out. 

The motion does not get a second so the proposed amendment died.

9:24 p.m.- Pelletier proposes reducing the overtime budget from multiple departments:

Planning Commission, by $4,000. This would completely eliminate overtime for the department.

Lupino asks if that means the city would switch to comp time for the department because Planning Department members attend evening meetings of the Zoning and Planning Boards. 

Pelletier said his thought process is that the city needs to make drastic cuts.

"Overtime is a luxury. Sometimes it's a necessity. But we need to make drastic cuts," Pelletier said, suggesting employees might submit reports to the boards in lieu of attending the meetings.

Lupino said that wouldn't fly in cases where the back-and-forth questions that often take place during those meetings are needed. 

"I don't think I can support this," Lupino said.

The motion failed, 4-2.

From the Finance Department, Pelletier proposed cutting the overtime budget by $6,000. The motion does not get a second and fails.

From the Division of Accounts and Control, Pelletier proposed eliminating the overtime budget of $5,000. 

The motion failed.

9:38 p.m.- Pelletier proposes eliminating the Division of Contracts and Purchasing overtime budget of $1,115.

Schutt said the overtime is used to pay for employees to attend Contract and Purchasing Board meetings.

Every overtime line item is contractually based. To have people stay late, city officials said, the overtime is required.

Eliminating the overtime budgets would create a structural deficit, Schutt said, because the costs would still be incurred.

Pelletier said the cuts could be incorporated into future union concessions.

Schutt said without getting into too much labor strategy in a public forum, the council would be basing the savings on a concession that is not guaranteed. 

The motion failed.

9:43 p.m.- Between 30 and 40 residents remain in the auditorium as Pelletier makes his last proposed cuts to overtime, this one to eliminate the Department of Inspections overtime budget of $14,034. Like the previous amendments, Pelletier said the cuts are necessary because of the extraordinary financial situation the city is in. And again, Schutt said the costs are contractually obligated. The motion fails. Pelletier is the lone supporter of his proposed amendments.

9:49 p.m.- Pelletier's last amendment is to eliminate all funding for the Budlong Pool, which would generate a savings of $174,500.

"I cannot see raising taxes for a luxury item like the pool," Pelletier said. "I know it's great for the summer but we're facing a four percent tax increase here, folks."

Archetto said he was strongly opposed to the cut. 

"By closing the pool you might be helping the budget but you're hurting the young people who want to spend time with their family on hot summer days," Archetto said. "Cranston needs to have a community that is helping people who don't have the privilege to pay $4 a gallon for gas to drive down to the Narragansett beaches."

The motion failed, 4-2, with Pelletier and Favicchio voting in favor of the cut.

9:52 p.m.- Councilman Emilio Navarro is up. He laments that the cuts so far won't make a dent in the tax increase.

"I'm going to urge this committee when we adopt the amended budget we don't vote for this budget, that we don't support this tax increase," Navarro said.

Navarro does not propose any amendments.

9:57 p.m.- Councilman Archetto proposes one amendement: to reduce the tax structure to offset the budget. This would be done by increasing the automobile excise tax deductible from $500 to $6,000, generating a deficit of $400,000. To plug that new $400,000 hole, the city would tap the rainy day fund. The result is a reduced tax burden on residents, Archetto said.

Donahue said he is in complete agreement with Archetto about the burden the city's residents are under, but he could not support using the rainy day fund for a variety of reasons, including the potential for increases in borrowing costs.

Archetto replies by asking "what if I told you in two weeks I could find the $400,000."

"Want to buy a bridge?" Pelletier asked.

Lupino said he applauds Archetto for making a promise like that but without a guarantee it didn't make sense.

Archetto said "there is $400,000 we could utilize."

Why take it out of the rainy day fund in the first place?

"Because the reason I won't mention is I don't know the outcome of this budget will be. If this budget process fails we may need to take alternate action."

Pelletier said he didn't think anyone would vote for something that Archetto couldn't promise.

Archetto's motion failed. He was the lone supporter of the motion.

10:05 p.m.- Styocs proposes cutting the Board of Canvassers budget by $12,891, leaving $180 to account for the state law of $5 per member per meeting.

Finance Director Robert Strom said right now, the canvassers receive more than $4,000 each.

Stycos said he's proposing this because the canvassers get the amount even in non-election years. He said he went down to the board to see how many meetings in the last non-election year and they held only a handful of meetings for just 83 minutes. That's $12,000 for just 83 minutes, Stycos said.

The motion passes with Navarro as the lone dissenter.

10:10 p.m.- Stycos recommends reducing the police ammunition line item from $45,000 to $35,000.

Stycos said during the budget hearings, the council was told that $5,000 was needed for each new recruit. With two new recruits, that accounts for the $10,000. 

"We need to squeeze this account," Stycos said. "$45,000 to fire away at the firing range during this economic time is unreasonable and the police department can be more careful with ammunition."

"They better have good aim," Faviccho said.

Favicchio said for a small impact on the budget, the cut might not make sense if the city has new recruits and might need to spend the money anyway.

Pelletier said although his ears in his neighborhood would appreciate the reduction because he hears every bullet when they go off, he knows that officers need to go through a qualification process through the Municipal Police Academy.

"To qualify you need to get proficient," Pelletier said. "Those rounds of ammunition are well needed and well spent."

The motion fails. 

10:16 p.m.- Stycos proposes cutting playground equipment upgrades at Hope Highlands Elementary School in half, reducing the line item from $140,000 to $70,000. The school has two playgrounds and could get by with upgrades to just one, Stycos said. It is the only school with two playgrounds.

When the school was built, "it was a very expensive project," Stycos said and there is still resentment on the eastern side of the city about the school. 

The upgrade requests came from the school department, Schutt said, and were based on safety concerns. That's why they were included in the budget.

Lupino said he'd hesitate to reduce the line items if the result was a lawsuit.

"If we don't do both, is there a provision to shut one down?" Lupino asked.

"If there was a safety issue, that's what we'd have to do," Schutt said. "The reality is if it's unsafe, it's got to get shut down."

The 20-year-old playgrounds were built in 1991. Wooden posts are splintered and house bees, school officials said. 

Stycos said he's not questioning whether the playgrounds need to be repaired. But the school has an auditorium, gymnasium and two playgrounds. Most schools on the eastern side of the school don't have those kinds of amenities.

"There's too much stuff there. Two playgrounds is too much and if one is unsafe it can be closed," Stycos said.

The motion fails 4-2.

10:26 p.m.- Stycos proposes cutting from the capital budget $185,000 for repaving work at Stone Hill and and Stadium Elementary Schools.

Lupino said along with safety concerns, the risk of not resurfacing the asphalt now could bring higher costs later. There are cracks in the surface, Lupino said, and if the city waits any longer, rains and extreme weather events will undermine the surface "and you'll have bigger issues."

Councilman Archetto said Stycos originally intended to cut the line item to pay for window repairs at Arlington School instead. If the council would have made cuts and increases simultaneously, Archetto said he would have supported the cut because Arlington badly needs windows. But as a standalone cut, "I'm not going to vote against my own district without a definite commitment that windows would have been put into Arlington School."

The motion passed.

10:35 p.m.- Stycos proposed cutting the road repair budget by $1 million.

Director of Administration Schutt cautioned the council against making the cut because so many roads are in disrepair. 

"The reality is we haven't done a significant number of roads in a while," Schutt said.

A $1 million cut would cut eight to 10 roads out of the repair schedule, Schutt said.

The motion fails with Stycos the lone vote in support.

10:40 p.m.- The council breaks for a five minute recess. The cut process is finished. Up next are increases.

10:53 p.m.- Recess ends. Just over 10 people are left in the audience.

10:54 p.m.- Stycos starts the budget addition process with a proposal to eliminate property tax breaks for persons over 65 who own properties valued over $400,000. This would generate $84,000 in additional revenue according to an estimate by the tax assessor's office, Stycos said.

"If Donald Trump lived in Cranston he'd be getting a tax break under this proposal," Stycos said.

Lupino said the proposal is discriminatory. An elderly widow struggling to pay her bills might not be able to sell her house given the current economic climate.

Favicchio said the proposal would create two classifications for elderly people and doesn't take into account what is actually being paid in taxes.

Pelletier noted the measure would need to be accompanied by a separate ordinance approved by the City Council to go into effect.

Archetto said he'd support the amendment because it's a "Robin Hood" amendment that would give from the rich to the poor.

Lupino took issue with that statement and asked how Archetto could say that someone with a $400,000 house has more of an ability to pay than a neighbor with a house valued at $399,000.

"If someone can't pay, then they can sell their house for $400,000 and buy a condo in Florida," Archetto replied.

The vote was a 3-3 tie, prompting Lupino to issue the tiebreaker vote, which was a no. The motion failed 4-3.

11:04 p.m.- Stycos moves to install parking meters in front of City Hall (also would require a separate ordinance) for a revenue increase of $5,000. The meters would pay for themselves in six months and next year would bring the city an estimated $10,000 in revenue.

The motion passed 4-2.

After the vote, Schutt noted the city will need someone with enforcement authority to write tickets and that person would need to be paid somehow. It was noted that the motion might not go anywhere since a separate ordinance would need to be passed sometime in the future.

11:07 p.m.- Stycos recommends increasing the city's tobacco license from $25 to $200, generating about $16,000 in additional revenue. 

Again, the motion would require the passage of an ordinance.

The motion passes 6-0.

11:10 p.m.- Stycos recommends removing sewer fees for all city buildings including the schools, saving the city $150,000. To balance, the city would establish $150,000 in anticipated delinquent sewer fees.

Schutt noted the city pays itself through sewer fees, which end up in the sewer enterprise fund. Those funds must remain in the enterprise fund. By not paying itself, the city could end up forcing residents' sewer fees to increase. 

The motion failed 4-3.

11:13 p.m.- Stycos calls for an increase to the library budget by $50,000, sparing the library from tapping into its reserve fund.

Archetto said he supports the motion. Last year the library "went to bat" for the city and they deserve the increase this year.

The motion passed in a 4-3 tiebreaker.

11:18 p.m.- Stycos proposes increasing the Historic District Commission budget by $2,000, and giving an extra $2,500 to the Cranston Historical Society. Both measures passed.

11:20 p.m.- Stycos calls for $15,000 to be put into a separate line item for sidewalk repair.

"We can't spend $1 million on roads and zero on sidewalks," Stycos said. "We have elderly people, people who walk, kids who ride bicycles. There are a lot of sidewalks messed up but the approach that there are so many messed up we can't do anything is not a good approach."

The motion fails in a 4-3 tiebreaker.

11:25: CURRENT TALLY

Cuts: $44,172

Increases: $53,500

Revenue adjustments: $21,000

Not much movement for a $245 million budget.

11:31 p.m.- Pelletier moves to increase revenues for third party rescues by $350,000 to reflect fee increases.

Finance Director Strom said the council's passage of the fee increase last month would generate at minimum $400,000 in additional revenue for the city.

"$350,00o would be more than enough money to add to the budget for the next fiscal year," Strom said.

That brings the revenue tally to $371,000.

11:34 p.m.- Pelletier proposes taking money cut earlier from the Board of Canvassers and reassigning it to the director of the board, essentially giving the director a raise of about $12,000. There would be no change to the bottom line of the Board of Canvassers budget. The director, Jaclyn Caroulo, is the lowest paid director in the city and might be leaving, Pelletier said.

Archetto said the residents don't want a tax increase, the school district wants more money, and Pelletier is advocating for a raise.

"I think that's ludicrous," Archetto said. "I just don't think this is the message we should send to the general public that at a time of tax increases, we're raising salaries. I think it's a terrible message to send to the residents of Cranston."

Schutt said not to disparage Caroulo's hard work, but the administration can not advocate for the raise when many other city employees aren't getting raises.

The motion fails with Pelletier the lone vote in support.

11:45 p.m.- The council is trying to squeeze out the last of the amendments before midnight.

The council approves an adjustment reducing revenues by $34,000 to take into account an error by the state in library aid. 

11:48 p.m.- The council approves an adjustment of $2.5 million in open space acquisition relating to the buyout program. Schutt said the money is part of matching funds needed for the program and the federal government needs to see the city set the money aside in the capital budget as a "placeholder." That doesn't mean the money will be spent. If the buyout program falls through, the money wont be borrowed.

Navarro said he wouldn't vote against the motion because the city has pledged to move forward with the buyout program but noted it is a significant expense for the city, to which Schutt replied the city will be able to recover much of through grants. But the money has to be in the budget first as a placeholder and spent before those grants come through. 

Thought the adjustment looks large, it will end up being a wash once everything is completed, apparently.

It must also be noted the money can be put in the capital reserve budget and the city doesn't necessarily have to draw on it, even if it is borrowed.

11:53 p.m.- Favicchio moves to restore the RSVP program in the senior services budget totaling about $55,000. The funds will be offset by grants, meaning there will be no hit to the budget.

The motion passes.

11:59 p.m.- The council is debating whether to approve the amended budget as is, sending it to the full City Council for final adoption. Remember, this is a Finance Committee meeting, not a full council meeting.

And the amended budget goes to the full council in a 4-3 tiebreaker.

Voting in favor of sending budget to full council: Pelletier, Favicchio, Lupino and Donahue.

Voting against: Navarro, Archetto, Stycos.

12:08 a.m.- Meeting adjourned.

After everything, the amended budget has been reduced by about $329,000.

Check tomorrow for reaction and response.