Debt Service Again A Big Expense In Municipal Budget

1. Budget tease: We know you are all waiting patiently to find out what your property tax rate will be for next year, but you're going to have to wait a little while longer. Town Manager Bill Sequino said he doesn't have to make public that information until Friday, April 1 and it may just take him until then to put his budget together, he said Tuesday.

2. Debt service: As was the case last fiscal year, Sequino said debt service will be the biggest hit to the taxpayer this upcoming year as well. This year, there will be $4,822,936 in the budget to help pay for construction projects such as the new Cole Middle School, the new police station, improvements to Swift Community Center and other municipal projects approved when the economy wasn't quite so bad. That's an increase of $1,498,556 from last fiscal year, most of which is due to the new middle school.

3. Good news: The good news, according to Sequino, is that East Greenwich property owners won't have to pay for all of that increase themselves. That's because more than half of it will be picked up by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Sequino said.

4. Bad news: The bad news is there will still be some $639,500 in new debt service that East Greenwich taxpayers will be responsible for. That will mean an increase of about $.27 per thousand dollars of assessed property for new debt service alone. Property taxpayers will be paying about $1.58 per thousand dollars of assessed property overall for debt service. 

5. For more information: The Town Council will be meeting with the School Committee at 6 p.m. on Monday night to delve further into the budget.