EAST PROVIDENCE — For the first time in quite a while the City Council opted not to do much if any tinkering to the annual budget proposed by the administration, the body giving necessary approval at a special public hearing held Monday night, Oct. 19, for a Fiscal Year 2020-21 total outlay of $193,914,428.

The final figure mirrored closely the initial suggestion of Mayor Bob DaSilva. The city’s total operating expenditure for FY20-21 has been set at $169,362,016.43. The addition of the self-sufficient, “enterprise” fund for the Water Department of $24,552,412.33 get to the $193.9-plus total.

As part of its deliberations as well Monday, the council approved the collection of $107,240,770 by the Finance Department in taxes, commonly referred to as the “levy.” That total represents the maximum percentage allowed in the City Charter year-to-year, 3.5 percent.

The anticipated actual FY20-21 percentage rate increase to taxpayers, as stated Monday by Finance Director Malcolm Moore, is 2.6 percent. Mr. Moore said the hike factors in expected tax base growth, which he says averages between $500,000-$1 million annually.

Also of note, the council accepted Mayor DaSilva’s proposal to amend the city’s residential homestead exemption back up to 14 percent from 13 percent. The homestead for years was 15 percent, but the then state-appointed Budget Commission initiated a gradual decrease in the rate of one percent annually beginning in FY2012-13. Ensuing councils, once back in oversight of the city’s finances, allowed the rate to drop to 13 percent before instituting a freeze bodies kept in place through last fiscal year.

According to the administration, for the average East Providence single-family homeowner with a property valuation of $232,000 the proposed FY20-21 increase of 2.6 percent, coupled with the added percentage point to the homestead exemption will increase their bills next year by approximately $87.06. Without the change to the homestead, the administration said their bills would be about $141.52.

Mr. Moore reaffirmed those figures Monday, saying he expects a likely increase for single-family homeowners to be between $80-$90.

The council voted 3-1 in favor of the final figure. Councilors Bobby Britto, Nate Cahoon and Bob Rodericks supporting the measure with Ricardo Mourato being the lone dissenting voice. Anna Sousa was absent from Monday’s proceedings due to job commitments.

The body opted against considering suggested cuts proposed by Mr. Mourato. The Ward 4 councilor prior to the formal vote asked that the following reductions be made: $40,000 in the mayor’s office budget from a requested $464,760.56; $24,000 in the law department from a requested $388,363.80; $1.2 million in the police department’s detail line item from a requested $17,541,250.36; $35,000 in Information Technology from a requested $738,640.01; and $20,000 in tax collection from a requested $594,388.05.

Mr. Mourato was similarly opposed to what he saw as the imprudent increase of the homestead exemption back to 14 percent, saying the estimated loss of $507,970 in revenue “has to be made up somewhere, and it has to be made up with businesses…essentially we’re putting the burden on businesses.”

As discussed earlier in the meeting, brought to the floor by Mr. Rodericks, Mr. Mourato instead said he would support a potential property tax freeze for senior citizens. That action, however, would not have been feasible for the upcoming fiscal year.

In expressing his opposition, Mr. Mourato said, “If we pass this budget as is it would be a 3.5 percent increase in addition to 2.3 from last year. To me, that’s unacceptable. We have to do something.”

Mr. Cahoon countered that sentiment, saying for too long current and previous councils have opted not to raise taxes when it was apparent costs for aspects of the annual budget, like employee healthcare, were certain to rise. He said it was not wise to reduce the budget for the sake of doing so.

“The responsible thing to do is increase those taxes nominally year to year,” Mr. Cahoon said. “I don’t think the goal is to have a zero tax increase or as little increase as possible without considering everything across the board. "I am all for eliminating unnecessary expenses in every single budget…I haven’t seen a whole lot of that in this budget…I feel this is a very sound plan…I’m not in favor of making last minute adjustments simply for the goal of keeping the tax rate as low as possible.”

Both Messrs. Rodericks and Britto in their remarks echoed the words of Mr. Cahoon.

At a regularly scheduled council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 20, Ms. Sousa said she would have been opposed to the budget for many of the same reasons expressed by Mr. Mourato.

As advertised, the council made a couple of slight adjustments to the operating budget before the vote. The body approved a salary increase for the City Clerk’s position of $9,800, including the office’s overall FY20-21 budget to $710,292. A $21,000 increase to the Pierce Stadium budget for the hiring of a part-time security guard raised that total to $97,000. The council approved a shift of $100,000 from the Finance Department to the Libraries, bringing the latter’s budget up to $2,464,157. Lastly, the body increased the Police Department’s budget by $10,000 for professional development, making the new total $17,551,250.

The council also added expenditures to the dedicated Capital Improvements budget, whose coffers per charter are filled annually with one percent of the revenues generated by the city. The body made the following adjustments: $25,000 for tree planting on Bullocks Point Avenue; $3,500 for the installation of an electrical wire at Riverside Square; $125,000 for improvements to Willet Pond; $12,000 for fencing at Myron J. Francis Elementary School; and $5,000 for fencing at Hunt's Mill Dog Park. The final Capital Improvements budget for FY20-21 was set at $2,813,466.