COVID-19 vaccines are now available at select state-run vaccination sites, including in Middletown, without an appointment. Any adult can walk in to one of these state sites to get vaccinated, or make an appointment at vaccinateRI.org.
This Thursday at 5pm there is a public workshop to discuss the proposal for a skate park at the Abruzzi Sports Complex in the North End.
Throughout April, the City Council held several workshops with our City staff to go through their budget proposals for Fiscal Year 2022, which begins on July 1, 2021. The workshops allowed for dialogue between the Council and staff and informed the complete budget proposal we received last week. Now we head into the public hearings on the budget – the first is scheduled for May 12. Public hearings on the budget are a means for both the Council and the public to continue the development of the budget. The budget often changes through these hearings as the departments incorporate feedback from the community. Based on both the workshops and my review of the budget, here are some important items I’m focusing on for the upcoming public hearing.
The proposed Fire Department budget for FY22 includes $1 million of overtime funding . It stood out to me that for several years the actual dollar amount spent on this line item has significantly exceeded what was originally budgeted. Our Fire Department has been on the forefront of the COVID-19 response, so I want to make sure that I understand how and why the overtime overspending occurs and how to effectively plan for it.
The City has not yet received the final budget proposal from the School Department and School Committee, so that is not integrated into the FY22 City budget. In our current year’s budget, the Council did not fully fund the School Department’s budget request and I do not believe we can do that again. For a number of years previously, the Schools were flat-funded and we are still recovering from the impacts of those decisions. I am committed to fighting for our schools to get the funding they need for Newport’s youth.
The proposed budget for the Department of Planning and Economic Development includes funding for 4 planners. Currently the department has three but there has been a vacancy. This department is responsible for overseeing and influencing economic development in Newport. It is integral in crafting our city plans and ensuring that those plans are followed as development challenges and opportunities arise in Newport. The City is working to hire a Community Resilience Specialist, a position that will focus on issues such as climate change and development impacts on the community.
In the budget workshops, we also discussed the funding that Newport will receive from the American Rescue Plan Act. This funding has not yet been allocated and while we know there will be limitations on how it can be spent, those limitations have not been laid out.