City Leaders Debate But Don't Solve Looming Deficit Problem

When members of the East Providence City Council and East Providence School Committee met Wednesday afternoon at City Hall they had a simple one-item agenda: fix a $6.3 million deficit in the next couple of months. The solution was not as simple as the agenda.

The city’s leaders tossed around and debated a range of options without reaching an agreement – other than agreeing to meet again next week. The city must submit a plan to the state’s Auditor General for how it will handle the deficit.

At the start of the meeting, Mayor Bruce Rogers asked City Finance Director Ellen Eggeman about a short-term borrowing measure proposed by school committee member Chrissy Rossi. Rossi suggested using Tax Anticipation Notes (TANs) to cover the debt this fall.

Eggeman said, "TANs would only be feasible if we had cash in the bank, next summer, to pay the TANs back."

Before directly addressing the Rossi proposal, Eggeman elaborated on the feasibility of relying on TANs, citing the city's borrowing of "$32 million last year, $28 million the year before and $25 million the year before that." Eggeman concluded that the city could borrow the money, but could not pay it back.

Eggeman offered other options for closing the deficit: raise taxes 3.5 percent, eliminate city services and reduce the number of city workers.

The group also suggested cutting school department funding, teacher salaries and special education expenses. And while School Committee Chairman Charles Tsonos later introduced his own proposal, it was Councilman At-Large William Conley who attempted to put the breaks on presenting a deficit elimination plan to the auditor general without examining in detail the "viability" of each proposal.

"We're in a position where, I think the best way to explain it is, we don't know what we don't know," Conley said. He was critical of the city’s weak financial record-keeping system, which he believes makes any deficit proposal difficult.

“You need to drill down until you know what the real numbers are before you make it part of the deficit reduction plan," Conley said, before suggesting that savings could come from within the school department.

Conley also cited a recent victory in the General Assembly, championed by Senator Daniel DaPonte and Rep. Helio Mello, to bring additional and accumulating funds to the school department, extra money which he says can go straight to paying off the city's deficit.

Conley criticized Rossi's plan. He said that the auditor general essentially echoed what Eggeman had stated earlier in the meeting, that the plan would take too long to make the changes that need to happen immediately. Conley also questioned Rossi's proposal to raise $100,000 in tipping fees from TLA/Pond View, along with another proposal to allow advertising in public schools.

Rossi asked why Conley was "poo-pooing" the suggested school advertising policy, asking "how Lowe's, Home Depot ... USA Karate, I'm wondering how those are going to make our children fat?" Conley responded by saying he never said anything about weight gain, but rather reinforced his stance on keeping advertising and educational settings separate.

Rogers asked members of both committees to evaluate the Eggeman’s plan, Rossi's plan and Tsonos’ plan with the intention of making recommendations and holding another meeting "before the next week is out."