PROVIDENCE – The state budget would be balanced by cuts in spending for local education, aid to cities and towns, one-time land sales that include the Veterans Memorial Auditorium and other savings, under a plan Gov. Donald L. Carcieri was expected to submit on Tuesday.
Details of the plan to close an estimated $218 million gap in the fiscal 2010 budget were publicly released by the governor’s office on Monday in what appeared to be a confidential memo attached to a news release.
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Key components of the plan to fill the budget hole include:
• Withholding of $65.1 million in third- and fourth-quarter vehicle excise taxes from cities and towns.
• Reducing education aid by $41 million, which according to the memo is offset by $18.3 million in savings that would be created by ending the cost-of-living adjustments for some retired state workers or teachers. “The reduction is further offset by the distribution of $4.6 million in Recovery Funds,” according to the memo.
• Selling more than $20 million worth of state property, including:
– The Veteran’s Auditorium, valued at $10.75 million, to the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority. Under the proposal, the Convention Center Authority will issue a $25 million bond for the purchase and rehab of the property.
– The former site of the Training School in Cranston, valued at $6.2 million.
– Two acres situated within Roger Williams University, valued at $2.8 million.
• Delaying by one year the repayment of approximately $22 million to the state’s rainy-day fund.
State lawmakers must give their approval to the budget-balancing plan. The House Finance Committee is scheduled to begin hearings on the proposal Tuesday at 1 p.m.
