While emphasizing the numbers are still preliminary, the Tiverton Town Council on Saturday tentatively approved a combined town and school budget of $58.4 million for the coming fiscal year, representing an increase of $661,652, or 1.15 percent over the current fiscal year.

Included in that number is a proposed $27.9 million local appropriation for Tiverton Public Schools — a figure two percent higher than the current year and one which, if ultimately approved, would leave school officials, who have consistently factored a four percent increase into all recent projections, short.

Even if the town council ultimately changes course and approves the four percent requested hike, school committee members and administrators say they are facing a dire budget situation that has already resulted in staff layoffs for next year and may ultimately mean an unpopular proposal on the table —  the closure of Fort Barton School — will need to be implemented.

Town administrator Chris Cotta cautioned that the numbers are subject to change, since school and town officials have not yet formally met to consider the school department’s proposed budget. Their inability to schedule a meeting has been source of friction for both sides in recent weeks.

Another friction point is the town’s contention that the schools have not provided all of the financial data requested, and the information that has been provided to date in some cases is unclear or contradictory.

At Saturday’s meeting, Tiverton budget committee chair Michael Janick validated that contention, saying the budget committee voted to recommend a school appropriation that is only $1 higher than the coming year, since financial data received from the schools was deemed unacceptable by budget committee members.

“For the record,” said Janick, “the majority of the budget committee was in favor of an increase for the schools. We just weren’t comfortable knowing what their actual costs are.”

Janick emphasized the committee is not claiming the school committee or school administrators are being intentionally deceptive. He added, however, that a corporate finance officer and a certified public account sit on the committee.

“When they looked at the numbers and couldn’t reconcile them, for those individuals it is just a red flag …we couldn’t give you a number that we felt would be in any way accurate, with the information we had.”

Council president Denise deMedeiros, reiterating a statement she and other councilors have made many times in recent weeks, said the council has repeatedly asked for information from the schools and has not received it.

“We’ve been cooperative. How can we possibly make a responsible decision for these taxpayers when we don’t have the information we need?”

Several councilors, including John G. Edwards V, voiced their opposition to the proposal to close Fort Barton School. Edwards said a factor to be considered in making a final decision is if the school did eventually close, the RI Dept of Education could demand that the town reimburse the state for the financial support it has provided through the years in the form of housing aid, unless the building continues to be used as an educational facility.

Although the ultimate decision regarding Fort Barton is legally a decision that rests entirely with  School Committee, the council approved a motion before adjournment on Saturday that said, “by unanimous consent… we do not support the closure of any educational facility in the Town of Tiverton.”

It is expected that a meeting between school and town officials will be scheduled soon, followed by a public hearing on the proposed preliminary budget. A final unified budget must be adopted by the council  no later than June 30.