Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Time running out for second shot at getting authorizing legislation approved.
John McLaughlin paced outside City Hall before Tuesday's Budget Commission meeting with a sign, "No TAX in FY12" — but panel members weren't ready to abandon the supplemental tax as a deficit fix. "I don't see how we're going to come up with a solution unless there's some type of supplemental tax," said Comission member Peder Schaefer. No other members offered alternative solutions. At Friday's meeting, though, Commission Chair Bill Sequino, Council President John Ward and Director of Revenue Rosemary Booth Gallogly all said the alternative was making significant cuts to the city's budget. With time running short on the General Assembly's session this year, Commission Chair Bill Sequino said the panel should vote on whether to ask the …
42.00287
-71.51371
Woonsocket City Hall
169 Main St, Woonsocket, RI
/articles/budget-commission-pursuing-supplemental-tax
505492
/locations/7156897
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Chairman says panel will not usurp local authority.
In an interview following the first meeting of the Woonsocket Budget Commission June 1, Chairman Bill Sequino said the panel's first order of business will be working with the City Council and School Committee to get a budget passed before July 1. Sequino noted that despite the fact that ultimate responsibility for the budget now rests with the Budget Commission, the process will include input from the two city boards in a collaborative process. "The question I want to answer first is whether the schools were properly funded," Sequino said during an interview this morning, "If reductions are made, they would have to be made city-wide." During Friday's meeting, RI Director of Revenue Rosemary Booth Gallogly said the Budget Commission would…
42.00287
-71.51371
Woonsocket City Hall
169 Main St, Woonsocket, RI
/articles/video-sequino-says-budget-commission-will-work-with-local-boards
505492
/locations/7153609
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Authorization of new tax bills passes after tepid support from Woonsocket reps.
The House Finance Committee approved the legislation authorizing the city to issue supplemental tax bills following the tepid support of Reps. Jon D. Brien (Democrat - District 50, Woonsocket) and Lisa Baldelli-Hunt (Democrat - District 49, Woonsocket) this afternoon. Both representatives said their support for the bill stemmed from their courtesy to local officials rather than their affinity for the legislation or their belief that it would work. Their testimony was delivered before the Finance Committee at 3 p.m. in Room 35 on the basement level of the State House. "I believe that significant and immediate structural reforms are needed to avert a fiscal crisis in our city and we respectfully suggest that as a first priority, our city …
Members decide to wait for General Assembly's decision on supplemental tax.
Councilman Dan Gendron announced a change of heart Monday night, moving that the Woonsocket City Council table the proposal that they ask for a budget commission. Most of the rest of the council voted to put the request on a back burner. The only holdout was Councilman Albert Brien. He was in favor of a vote on the issue, he said, but only so he could vote 'No'. "I am against a budget commission at any time," Brien said. Gendron and the other members of the council were not as fervent in their reluctance to ask for state intervention, but most were wary of asking for the state to step in if it wasn't as a last resort. "We do not have the option of asking them to leave," Gendron said, and a budget commission could end up running the city'…
42.00287
-71.51371
Woonsocket City Hall
169 Main St, Woonsocket, RI
/articles/city-council-tables-request-for-budget-commission
505492
/locations/7070346
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Bill was held till Woonsocket delegation weighed in with their support.
After hearing the Woonsocket delegation's support for the supplemental tax bill, the House Finance Committee has scheduled a vote on the measure Tuesday. The bill, which would authorize Woonsocket to levy an additional tax on property and motor vehicles to raise up to $6.6 million, was tabled by the Committee on Tuesday, May 15. Larry Berman, communications director for the Speaker, said bill was tabled because nobody from the Woonsocket delegation testified on the bill, which left their position on the measure in doubt. "The House leadership was waiting for them to weigh in on this," Berman said. He said members of the city's delegation have since stated they're in favor of the bill. The vote on the bill (2012-S 2872A), sponsored by …
Ward told members of joint Council, School Committee working session that bill could get second shot.
City Council President John Ward told members of the Council and School Committee Wednesday that the act authorizing the city to issue new tax bills could get another chance May 22. Ward spoke during a Council working session at Town Hall last night, with School Committee Chair Anita Forcier-Mcguire, School Committee Vice Chair Vimala Phongsavanh and Superintendent Giovanna Donoyan present. He said he'd spoken with Rep. Jon Brien (Dist. 50, Woonsocket) earlier Wednesday and had learned the Finance Committee might be considering the act again as early as next Tuesday. The Finance Committee tabled the authorizing legislation Tuesday, May 15. "It usually means that the bill is killed," when a committee tables a bill for further study, said …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Council President says Finance Committee must move bill quickly for city to avoid state intervention.
Hours after The House Finance Committee tabled a supplemental tax to study it further, City Council President John Ward said the development could put Woonsocket's financial future in the RI Director of Revenue's hands. Tabling the measure does leave the option of approving the act authorizing the city to issue a new tax bill open, Ward said, but the matter hinges on how much time they take to decide. If the Finance Committee doesn't take action to move the bill today, they might not get to it until next week. "Time is certainly a problem for us here," Ward said. Without the supplemental tax, Woonsocket will run out of money by the end of May, reports Director of Finance Thomas Bruce. That leaves the city 15 days. If the Finance …
41.83155
-71.412882
82 Smith St, Providence, RI
RI State House
/articles/ward-study-of-woonsocket-supplemental-tax-may-take-too-long
/locations/7029898
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Mayor, Council President answer questions about need for supplemental tax bill.
The House Finance Committee has tabled the act authorizing a supplemental tax bill after hearing city and state officials speak for it and two citizens opposing the measure. The act, S2872, would authorize officials to raise as much as $6.6 million for the financially strapped city. Without it, Woonsocket will be out of money by the end of the month. A hearing on the matter aired today during a Capitol TV broadcast. After the Committee heard from and questioned Woonsocket Mayor Leo Fontaine and Woonsocket City Council President John Ward, the cause for the supplemental tax got support from the state, but testimony from two Woonsocket citizens ended the hearing on a note of opposition. Susan Greschner, chief of municipal finance for the …
Monday, May 14, 2012
Members sorted though line items totaling at least $66 million Monday.
The Woonsocket School Committee was still sorting though a byzantine draft budget Monday night line by line, with no estimate on when they'd finish. "This still needs a lot more work," said School Committee Chair Anita Forcier-Mcguire. The Committee began with $64 million on Saturday, adding, among other expenses, a $550,000 line item for the capital budget and two $89,000 school principal positions. On Monday, the Committee continued to add to the request, with the biggest line item a $1.4 million expense for retirement funding. Those additions alone would put the budget request at $66,128,000, but Forcier-McGuire and Superintendent Giovanna Donoyan wouldn't estimate the final figure, insisting that the draft budget was still a work in …
42.004722
-71.500708
Woonsocket Middle School at Hamlet/Villa Nova
60 Florence Dr, Woonsocket, RI
/articles/school-committee-to-send-draft-budget-to-city-council
1718836
/locations/7009849
Renters are productive citizens, too.
To The Editor: I am concerned about the anti-renter sentiment expressed by many recently. The financial crisis facing Woonsocket is grave, indeed, and I certainly understand and appreciate the taxpayers’ frustration with the supplemental tax increase and the ongoing financial challenges which even this increase will not address. That having been said, we have been hearing a lot about 10,000 taxpayers carrying 40,000 non-taxpayers, a “head tax” for the privilege of living in Woonsocket, and even a charge for having children in the public schools. While I join those who abhor the welfare abusers, disability frauds, illegals, and worse who are among renters, I feel it’s important to take a step back and examine these arguments more …
Tommy Tutone
6:53 am on Thursday, June 7, 2012
I like it,but the batphone link to Lisa's house has been disconnected.I vote for Dina Dutremble as Catwoman!Jon Brien should play the Riddler since he's such an enigma. more ›