PROVIDENCE – The city ended fiscal 2021 $3.68 million in the black, Mayor Jorge O. Elorza announced on Monday.
Results of the latest fiscal year audit, which mark the sixth consecutive year in which the city has ended with a profit, bolster the city’s “rainy day” fund to $28.8 million.
This is the first time since 2008 the city has achieved its goal of securing 5% of total expenditures or revenue in reserves.
“Since 2015, my administration has been managing our finances by budgeting responsibly, finding savings whenever possible, and eliminating redundancy and waste,” Elorza said in a statement. “Despite the unpredictability of each year’s budget, our entire city team has continued to find innovative ways to balance our check book and put Providence on a strong financial footing.”
Elorza credited the surplus being the result of several factors, including realistic budgeting practices over the past several years, careful management of each department’s budget, an expansion of the tax base and finding efficiencies whenever possible, the statement said.
In addition to a budgeted rainy-day fund allocation of $100,000, in fiscal 2021, Providence saw a $3.58 million surplus, pushing the total $3.68 million.
Additionally, the city’s Self-Insured Medical Funds reserve balance is $17.8 million.
You conveniently forgot to mention that $3.7M is a rounding error on PVD’s $900M+ budget.