Council narrowly OKs budget

Cuts to Mayor’s proposals, tax relief for commercial property owners, approved by 4-3 margin

WOONSOCKET – The City Council narrowly approved a budget of roughly $143.5 million on Monday, axing about $770,000 from Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt’s proposal and shifting some of the tax burden away from commercial properties.

Councilman James Cournoyer, the architect of the spending plan, said the cuts were designed to lessen the relative burden commercial property owners pay in comparison to residential properties. The commercial sector would still pick up about $19 million of the levy – the total amount of money the city intends to raise from taxes – or about $1 million more than current levels. But it’s less than the amount Baldelli-Hunt’s budget would have raised.

“The burden we’re placing on commercial taxpayers – they’re carrying 30 percent of the water,” said Cournoyer. “We’re just off the charts...even with these changes we’re still going in the wrong direction. We’re just not going as much in the wrong direction.”

The 4-3 vote fell along predictable lines, with Council President Daniel Gendron, Vice President Jon Brien and Councilwoman Denise Sierra joining Cournoyer to approve the budget. The ‘nays’ were cast by Councilman Christopher Beauchamp, Councilwoman Melissa Murray and Councilman Richard Fagnant.

Official figures haven’t been ironed out yet, but commercial tax rates are expected to land in the range of $33.20 per $1,000 in the council’s version of the budget, a reduction of about 10 percent. Under Baldelli-Hunt’s plan, the rate would have been $36.10 per $1,000, a reduction of just 2 percent.

The estimated residential rate is about $24.84 per $1,000, which is about 17.5 percent less than current rates. The mayor’s budget would have provided a rate reduction of about 20 percent. Whether or not homeowners actually see their tax bills go down depends on how their real estate holdings were affected by a recent revaluation. Baldelli-Hunt had said 85 percent of all

property owners would see bills stay the same or go down a bit, but the council’s version could see that figure shrink to about 70 percent.

The cuts prevent Baldelli-Hunt from adding new managerial level positions and completely abolishes some programs. The council did grant a request by Police rChief Thomas F. Oates III – rejected last year – to hire an $80,000-per-year deputy chief for the Woonsocket Potlice Department. But they cut a combined $135,000 for a proposed director of economic development and a chief of staff at City Hall.

The council also provided the WPD with an additional $150,000 it wasn’t asking for, to upgrade the fleet of police cruisers; reduced the blight eradication account from $500,000 to $300,000 and eliminated a plethora of temporary aides across multiple departments, replacing them with a permanent “floater.”

One of the single biggest cuts in the budget was the de facto abolition of the Woonsocket Redevelopment Agency for a savings of some $500,000. Cournoyer, and others on the council, argued that’s too much money to put in the hands of an appointive body that doesn’t answer to voters.

Cournoyer also framed the spending plan as a nod toward sustainability, accusing the mayor of padding the budget during an election year with

one-time revenue sources she won’t be able to tap next year in the face of ominous fiscal “headwinds.” Among other things, he eliminated some $500,000 the city was counting as revenue from an account for firefighters’ future health care benefits – a pool of money he likened to a trust fund. Meanwhile, he said, the city had also claimed revenue of more than $1.2 million in “non-utilization taxes” on vacant properties that won’t be available next year – while facing a potential loss of $1.6 million in property taxes from newly nonprofit Landmark Medical Center.

Initially unveiled two weeks ago, Cournoyer’s spending plan was held in abeyance for review after Baldelli-Hunt and a number of her directors complained that the cuts would handcuff operations and deprive taxpayers of necessary services. Last night, with less than two weeks to go before the start of the fiscal year, Cournoyer unveiled a slightly modified proposal that restored about $9,000, much of it for Woonsocket Harris Public Library.

Earlier, Library Director Leslie Page had said the cuts might prevent the library from showing state overseers that it was maintaining a consistent level of services, thereby jeopardizing money that it derives from grants.

The approval came after more than an hour’s worth of discussion and some terse exchanges between members of the council and Baldelli-Hunt, who defended her record on commercial tax rates.

At one point, she and Council President Dan Gendron were calling each other liars – both shouting at each other at the same time – for their respective versions of why a businessman turned his nose up at the prospect of buying the former Walmart building – several years ago. Gendron said high taxes was the deal-breaker; Baldelli-Hunt claimed the council was to blame for chasing off the would-be Walmart suitor.

“He knew the tax rate when he wanted to buy the building,” Baldelli-Hunt insisted.

“You’re lying,” snapping Gendron. “I’ll bring the emails and read them to you verbatim.”

Firing back, Baldelli-Hunt insisted, “He indicated the taxes were high. He was counting on you to give him a tax stabilization agreement. When he saw your behavior, he changed his mind.”

Baldelli-Hunt said the city’s commercial tax rate has been cut three years in row. Rebuking Cournoyer for misconstruing her record, she said, “Complain to the people who were here before us who put us in the position we’re in...We’re the ones who are righting the ship.”

Members of the council also squabbled with each other about the amendments. Murray, for example, criticized Cournoyer for – just as he did last year – presenting an “omnibus” budget amendment without soliciting input form other members of the council.

“The only person who’s

truly getting what they wanted is Councilman Cournoyer,” she said. “I wish we could have proceeded different.”

Councilman Fagnant, too, protested loudly for having Gendron call him out of order with a bang of the gavel when he tried to offer some last-minute feedback before voting.

“You don’t have the floor,” Gendron advised him.

“Good,” said Fagnant. “Arrest me.”

Vice President Brien, however, said it’s imperative for the city to bring down the commercial tax burden as part of a long-term strategy for making the city more welcoming to new businesses.

“This gives a reduced amount of burden, as Councilman Cournoyer said, in the levy to the commercial ratepayers,” said Brien. “I think that’s important to send the signal. If we can continue to move that number down year after year we can be competitive with surrounding communities.”