Elorza: ‘We are building for the long-term’

DURING HIS annual “State of the City,” Mayor Jorge O. Elorza on Wednesday said he’ll continue efforts to shore up the city’s finances, while promising to improve local infrastructure, education and city services.  / PBN FILE PHOTO/STEPHANIE ALVAREZ EWENS
DURING HIS annual “State of the City,” Mayor Jorge O. Elorza on Wednesday said he’ll continue efforts to shore up the city’s finances, while promising to improve local infrastructure, education and city services. / PBN FILE PHOTO/STEPHANIE ALVAREZ EWENS

PROVIDENCE – Mayor Jorge O. Elorza on Wednesday said he’ll continue efforts to shore up the city’s finances, while promising to improve local infrastructure, education and city services.

The third-year mayor, speaking at his annual “State of the City,” addressed Providence City Council members, saying his decision-making thus far has been with an eye to improving the city now and for five-to-10 years in the future.

“I stand before you today, two years in, with the message that we are building for the long-term,” he said. “We’re getting our finances on track and investing for the long-term once again. We are daring to be bold on public education and we’ve changed the culture at City Hall, so that folks are looking at us for best practices.”

The mayor’s speech was largely in line with much of what he’s advocated for during his first two years in office. Elorza spoke at length about the city’s finances, touting his $10.3 million surplus realized last fiscal year, which includes a $4.3 million deficit-reduction payment and a chance to expedite paying off its cumulative deficit.

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“We’ll be paying off the cumulative deficit three years sooner than anyone expected,” he said.

He touched briefly on the city’s balance sheet, which includes pension costs that continue to drag on the city’s finances. The city’s unfunded pension liabilities grew 9.4 percent – or $84.3 million – to $985.1 million during fiscal 2016, which is a byproduct of robust benefit packages, underfunding and lackluster returns on pension investments.

Nonetheless, the mayor was sanguine about the current budget, saying the city has maintained solid cash flow, and has a rainy day fund for the first time since 2011.

“We’ve done this by being forward-thinking, by being responsible, and we’ve done it while providing relief to our residents by lowering the dreaded car tax,” he said.

On the topic of infrastructure, Elorza talked about his recently submitted five-year capital-improvement plan, which proposes investing $120 million over the next five years. The investment would require an infrastructure bond, which Providence voters approved during last year’s election, but because of disagreement among city officials, didn’t have a funding plan attached.

Elorza says it’s time to make good on that previous effort and public support.

“I will be working with the City Council to make sure that we fulfill that mandate and pass an infrastructure bond so we can literally build the foundation to keep the city strong from the ground up,” he said.

On education, Elorza lauded his team’s effort to-date. He talked about how the city for the first time in six years would be increasing its contribution to the schools.

“[We’ll] be sending a message that we believe in our kids and we’ll make sure they have the resources to achieve their dreams,” he said.

The city this year also plans to spend $10 million on school repairs, which is $3 million less than what was allocated the previous year. Elorza also announced a new “All In” education initiative, which will include partnering with the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University and the Nellie Mae Foundation.

Finally, Elorza promised to continue his efforts to improve city services, which is something he’s advocated for since his campaign for mayor.

The mayor didn’t talk much about economic development, something that was a main focus point last year, but did say people should “expect to see cranes in the sky” this spring.

Closing on current events, Elorza positioned himself as an adversary to President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.

“It’s been two weeks since our new president was inaugurated and already we’ve seen attacks on the principles we hold most dear,” Elorza said. “While I’m deeply concerned about the new administration, I have become newly inspired by our people here in Providence. … We’ve shown support for women, for immigrants, for refugees and we’ll continue to do so for anyone who is targeted or threatened.”

Traditionally, the speech is delivered prior to the mayor delivering his proposed fiscal budget, which is expected to come out sometime in the next few months.

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