PROVIDENCE –
Mayor Brett P. Smiley on Wednesday presented a $598.6 million budget for fiscal year 2025, a 3% increase that targets investments in housing, infrastructure resiliency, public safety and education.
While there is no increase in commercial property taxes, the budget includes one of the recommendations from a special commission that the city create a two-tiered classification for residential properties, proposing a rate of $18.35 per $1,000 of accessed value for non-owner-occupied dwellings, while the owner-occupied residential property tax rate would move to $10.46 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Vowing to bring “a new culture to City Hall,” the second-term mayor in his address to the City Council said the city must prioritize fiscal discipline now that the influx of federal dollars has dried up.
“We have successfully avoided the dangerous fiscal cliff that other municipalities are facing while also continuing to make investments that improve our local quality of life and move Providence forward," he said, adding his budget will avoid “the difficult financial shortcomings that cities across the country are beginning to face as federal funding runs out.”
Smiley’s budget includes an additional $3 million to the Providence Public School District, the largest increase in seven years. The proposal includes a nearly $91.8 million pension payment, as well as a 3% increase in salaries for municipal bargaining unit employees; 4% for the fire department; and 8.7% for the police department.
On the revenues side, the budget includes $37.3 million in state PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes, payments and a local payment of about $15.8 million.
The proposed budget increases the number of police officers and firefighters, including 36 new police officers that will complete training this fall and $416,000 for the recruitment and training of a new class of 40 officers to begin training in the spring of 2025.
In response to an 11% increase in non-emergency calls last year, the administration seeks to build upon the pilot program that directed emergency medical service units on bicycle details downtown to better respond to medical calls by expanding it to more neighborhoods across the city.
In his address, Smiley spoke directly to Lifespan Corp. over its payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement being negotiated with the city.
“It's time to come to the table with a meaningful contribution. I am confident that we can also reach a fair, equitable and mutually beneficial agreement that ensures we grow together in the decades to come,” he said. “Hospitals throughout the region have made meaningful long-term commitments to their host communities, you can too."
The budget also includes:
- $255,000 to the Providence Community Library.
- $200,000 toward record digitization, including a pilot program to digitize Department of Inspection and Standards records.
- $135,941 to fund three new positions within the Department of Public Works Sewer Division.
- $100,000 increase in funding for the “Go Team" emergency response program.
- $93,291 from Capital Improvement Plan funding for additional engineering resources to manage citywide infrastructure improvements, adding an assistant chief engineer and engineering project manager.
- $70,936 from Capital Improvement Plan funds for a landscape architect to support parks infrastructure projects.
- $69,007 to fund a new position within the Telecommunications Department.
- $52,809 for a new position to support Department of Public Works public engagement.
- $50,000 to the Providence Public Library.
- $48,000 increase to year-round recreational programming.
- The budget also proposes restructuring the departments of Human Resources and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging into the Department of People and Culture.
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
