Town Manager Fires Back Against Comments Made at Budget Hearings

By Mike Embury, North Kingstown Town Manager

To the editor:

Those in attendance at the public hearing were subjected to a chorus of claims that the Town of North Kingstown is being mismanaged, despite the fact that the community continues to enjoy an enviable bond rating and fiscally sound reputation within the financial community.

The Town has been unfortunate during the last two fiscal years to have suffered the unanticipated extended sick leave of several key employees during the most critical time, fiscal year end. This coupled with the departure of two of our senior financial managers at the end of FY 2013 resulted in unavoidable delays in closing the fiscal year and completing our annual audit on time. Despite this, those remaining employees were able to preform critical tasks that allowed the town to continue its operations without interruption. Anyone suggesting that we should have had plans in place to provide for such a scenario does not understand the realities of managing a municipality such as North Kingstown. As I have mentioned before, the strength of our town government is the commitment of our staff who demonstrated their determination during these challenging times.

It’s important to remember, that catching up for the backlog in FY 2013 impacted the subsequent year, as was the case in FY 2014. We filled the vacant management positions and slowly recovered, unfortunately one of the recent hires decided to depart after only one year in the position. We requested and were granted an extension. Our auditors were unable to adjust their calendar and our work was delayed until the end of the tax season. Their field work has commenced and we are making progress. We have committed to the Auditor General that the FY 2015 audit will be on time.

We’re in the midst of a contentious budget season. The School Department is seeking a substantial increase and we have committed to fund 2/3 of that increase. Unfortunately those with an agenda have suggested we find the balance in cuts to town government. Our town budget is lean and has been for many years. Any proposed increase is directly attributed to labor contracts, pension obligations, and essential town services. If we’re to further reduce our town government side of the budget, we must look at current services and what their elimination will mean to the community. My responsibility is to provide options to the Town Council. I will be providing those options at future meetings. Those options will include an examination of town services and what savings can be realized through their curtailment or elimination.

The Town will only be successful if we approach this process with accurate information and an unbiased perspective. I hope that Town Government and School Administration can put the taxpayers’ welfare before partisan agendas.

Respectfully submitted,
Mike Embury Town Manager