Cumberland looking to bump up tax levy Suggested 3.8 percent increase to cover school health care claims, collections

CUMBERLAND — Ahead of the Town Council's meeting on Wednesday to set the tax levy that will finish out the current fiscal year, Mayor Bill Murray and Finance Director Jason Parmelee are recommending a 3.8 percent increase in the levy, just 0.2 of a percentage point shy of the maximum increase allowed.

This is up from the 3 percent increase they had been recommending just a week or so prior. The bump in the rec- ommended increase should come as good news for advocates of increased school spending, who have turned out in droves to push for the full 4 percent.

Murray cited two primary reasons for increasing the recommendation from 3 to 3.8 percent: unexpectedly high health care claims for the Cumberland School Department, and collections.

“Some years you're ahead of the game with collections; other years The Call you're behind,” he told on Friday. “This year, as it falls, we're behind.”

The 3.8 percent levy increase would be a dramatic departure from the past three years, when the percentage increases were 1.71, 1.01 and 1.57 percent, according to Parmelee.

If approved at 3.8 percent, the tax levy would increase the tax base from $63,105,398 to $65,503,193. The tax levy is determined by both assessed values and tax rates, meaning the levy can increase while rates do not if assessed values are going up.

“The levy is always based on guesstimates, and then as we get numbers in, it changes the playing field.” —Cumberland Mayor Bill Murray

The motor vehicle and tangible tax rates would stay the same, at $19.87 and $29.53 per $1,000, respectively. The town's calculations have the residential rate decreasing from $17.08 to $15.18 per $l,000, though the recent property revaluation has meant an increase in assessed home values.

Cumberland is in the unusual position of having an unsynchronized system, in which the tax levy is set more than nine months after the start of the fiscal year. That means that the tax levy that will be set Wednesday is only to finish out the next two-and-a-half months. Previous Finance Director Brian Silvia – who left his position at the end of December to work for the City of Warwick – had recommended a 3 percent levy increase to finish out the year, hence Parmelee's initial recommendation.

But “the levy is always based on guesstimates, and then as we get numbers in, it changes the playing field,” Murray said. The mayor said he and Parmelee will look at changing to a synchronized system, but his understanding is that the switch would cost a lot of money. The levy was supposed to be voted on at the Town Council's special meeting on April 11. But the resolution on the tax levy originally said it was for fiscal year 2017-2018, whereas it was supposed to say 2016-2017.

Kelley Morris – the newly hired legal counsel for the Town Council – said it was brought to her attention that “there might be a problem with that, because we are not adequately advising the public of what we are – or what you are – reviewing tonight.”

After consulting with the Attorney General's Office on violations of the Open Meetings Act, she advised the council not to take a vote at the April 11 meeting.

At last week's meeting, Murray told Councilor Tom Kane that he'd have to get back to him on a number of questions Kane had asked.

Kane noted that he didn't have time to formulate questions sooner because he had received the information at 4:26 p.m. the day before the meeting. Not receiving information from Town Hall in a timely fashion has been a consistent complaint from some Town Council members over recent months.

“In no way is the possible delay of passing Resolution 17-13 a fault of the Town Council,” Kane said, referencing the resolution on the tax levy. “This council has unfailingly supported Mayor Murray on a majority of agenda matters, including items presented under rushed and emergency situations.”

He went on to say, “It's my hope that the town will not suffer any financial implications due to the implicit lack of planning on behalf of the town administration.”

Murray said he felt “blindsided” by these comments.

Last week, Town Council members Robert Shaw and Scott Schmitt both voiced support for a 4 percent levy increase, in order to help the schools. The Town Council meeting will take place on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Joseph L. McCourt Middle School, a switch from the usual location of the Council Chambers at Town Hall.