Council seeks more timely updates on status of East Providence’s budget

Members request to receive reports regularly each month

By Mike Rego
Posted 2/6/19

EAST PROVIDENCE — The manner in which East Providence’s approximately $180 million annual operating is presented in its totality and on a regular basis to both the general public and elected …

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Council seeks more timely updates on status of East Providence’s budget

Members request to receive reports regularly each month

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — The manner in which East Providence’s approximately $180 million annual operating is presented in its totality and on a regular basis to both the general public and elected officials was one of the key topics of conversation at the February 5 City Council meeting.

Three members of the body, Nathan Cahoon, Ricardo Mourato and Anna Sousa, had items related to the subject on the meeting docket, addressing what many consider the opaque, outdated way the city’s financial overview is shown each year as well as how its updated over the ensuing 12-month period.

Mr. Mourato, the first-term councilor from Ward 4, began the discussion with his request under the title “City of East Providence Fiscal Budget Format.”

Holding up a bulky copy of the current FY2018-19 budget, Mr. Mourato said, “I have a hard time following it. I feel the format should be that everyone should be able to read it.”

He continued, “Everyone talks about transparency and stuff, but this is one item, our tax dollars, as citizens we should know where it’s going and where it’s being spent and followed easily,” Mr. Mourato explained. “I don’t need to be an accountant to be able to read this.”

For the sake of comparison, Mr. Mourato referred to the more refined way the East Providence School District’s finance department presents its budget to the School Committee and publishes it regularly.

“I try to look at the school budget portion of it,” he said. “They have a summary to me which is easy to follow. We don’t have to go too far for an example. Just looking at our school department they have a format that’s easy to follow. That’s all I’m asking is this is something we can look into and achieve in the near future.

Encouraged to join in the talks, city side Finance Director Malcolm Moore said he and Mayor Bob DaSilva had already engaged on the matter, agreeing the need for the municipal budget to have a more “robust and user-friendly” format for residents and officials.

“I understand your concerns and it’s been brought up before…It’s been looked at,” Mr. Moore said.

When asked by Ward 2 Councilwoman Sousa if the accounting system used by the schools could be something the city side “adopts,” Mr. Moore said, “We could. I’ve actually recommended it in the past that we buy the same software that they have.”

Mr. Cahoon’s point, “Discussion Regarding Budgetary Oversight by the City Council,” continued the discussion into more specifics about the operational systems employed by the city and school sides.

As explained by Mr. Cahoon, the newly seated councilor from Ward 3 and a member of the School Committee the previous five years, the school department utilizes a state-mandated accounting system called Uniformed Code of Accounts or “UCOA” for short. The most basic element of the system is the use of a five-digit code to differentiate sections of the budget, making it more easily ledgible.

Mr. Moore, who acknowledged he alone prepares budgetary information using spreadsheets in the Excel program, said he’s “tried it. I went through the UCOA book and tried to align our descriptions with their object numbers.”

Explaining his position, Mr. Cahoon said, “I definitely look forward to working with the mayor’s staff to come up with something that makes sense for the city, something that helps you present something both to the public, so that they have transparency, and to us, so that when we’re making decisions we have the most updated information ready. So that we’re not acting rashly or without all the info we need.”

Of the data provided by to school board members, Mr. Cahoon added, the detailed reports from school finance were “crucial to the committee for making good fiscal decisions.”

Ms. Sousa’s agenda item, “First Fiscal Quarter Itemized Finance Report,” followed the similar requests from Messrs. Mourato and Cahoon for the council to receive more regular budget updates.

She said that the school side finance department provides the committee with monthly reports was“great” and “keeps you abreast about what’s going on.”

Ms. Sousa continued, “I had suggested a quarterly (finance report), but a monthly is even better because it keeps a tighter watch on what’s going on with the budget.”

The Ward 2 representative said the timely updates would give elected officials a more accurate understanding of where money was and wasn’t being used, possibly allowing for it to be reallocated to other areas where it may be more effective.

“One of the concerns I had last year was projects that had been budgeted for, but never came to fruition and then three, four, five years down the line that money is still held up in that line item, but it’s never gotten taken care of,” Ms. Sousa said.

Mr. Moore said he could likely adhere to the requests of the council, presenting to them an update at its second meeting each month.

Near the end of the conversation both Mr. Cahoon and just-seated At-Large Councilor Bob Rodericks suggested the formation of a sub-committee dealing with finance. City Solicitor Michael Marcello said while the sub-group is able to be formed, the council would have to formally post the subject on a meeting agenda and seek input from the public before it could be seated.

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MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.