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Council reallocates policing dollars after staff find unspent highway safety funds; reduces overtime budget
Summary
Councilors reduced a police overtime line by $21,000 after staff discovered a surplus in a Rhode Island Highway Safety special revenue account and approved several small increases to communications lines; totals for police and public safety were adjusted accordingly.
Warren ' The Town Council voted to reduce the police overtime appropriation by $21,000 after staff identified a surplus in a special revenue account funded by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation's highway safety reimbursements.
Councilor Sullivan explained that the town had accumulated reimbursement proceeds in a special account intended for speed enforcement, DUI patrols and similar overtime activities. That account held about $57,000; staff recommended drawing $21,000 to reduce the police department's FY26 overtime line from $281,880 to $260,880.
Councilors approved the adjustment and directed staff to record the change in the special revenue ledger. Members noted the risk of using one-time special revenue to support recurring overtime costs, and finance staff explained that the state reimbursement for these targeted grants historically returns to overtime when it is earned by departments.
At the same meeting the council approved a $1,000 increase to the police mobile communications line to cover newly issued department cell phones after two recent promotions, and additional small adjustments led the council to amend the total police allocation to $3,103,009 and the total public safety allocation to $3,509,321.
Councilors discussed bookkeeping fixes and asked staff to make sure special revenue accounts are consistently credited when state reimbursements are received so recurring Payroll items are not supported by one-time balances.
All adjustments were passed by voice vote. The finance director and police leadership said they would produce updated ledgers to make the tracking clear going forward.
