PROVIDENCE – More than three-quarters of the way through the year, the city at last has a fiscal 2021 spending plan, after Mayor Jorge O. Elorza signed the budget April 19, according to a city statement.
Elorza’s rubber stamp makes official the $511 million budget previously approved by the Providence City Council. Key changes to the budget over the original spending plan Elorza introduced last spring at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic include the $25.6 million in federal coronavirus relief funds, plus higher expenses in police and fire overtime, as well as costs associated with the new, four-year police union contract.
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The budget also includes $400,000 to create a “crisis diversionary program,” run by Family Service of Rhode Island to respond to city emergencies that do not require law enforcement and creates a new community relations and diversionary services manager position in the Providence Police Department.
Key tenets of Elorza’s original spending plan still in place include the full $73.5 million payment to the city pension plan and a separate $130 million allocation to the Providence Public School District, which is under state control. Tax rates, all of which remained unchanged from the prior year, were already set under a $358 million tax levy approved before the start of the fiscal year. The city delayed passing a full spending plan prior to the start of the fiscal year due to the pandemic, including its impact on tax collection and state aid.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
