Committee approves ordinance adding Juneteenth to Providence city holiday list; fiscal note estimates ~$282,000 in public‑safety costs

The Providence City Committee on Finance approved an ordinance to amend the city’s personnel code to recognize Juneteenth as a formal city holiday and to update an older reference to Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

Miguel Young, identified as deputy director of policy during the meeting, said the ordinance formalizes a practice the city has followed by executive order and aligns the city code with federal and state recognition (Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 and the state recognized it in 2023). “This was sort of just, like, clean up that process,” Young said. He asked Director Silveria to present a fiscal note.

Director Silveria provided the committee with a fiscal estimate based on recent years’ experience: most costs relate to overtime and coverage for police and fire and an estimated cost of roughly $282,000 for those departments for the Juneteenth holiday under existing staffing and contract arrangements. The presentation noted the estimate derives from prior practice of paying employees for the holiday and associated overtime; staff said the fiscal note was presented so the committee could answer budget questions when voting.

Committee members expressed general support for recognizing the day and thanked staff for preparing the fiscal note. The motion to approve was made and seconded; the committee voted aye to approve the ordinance and forward it for the usual codification and budgetary handling.

Committee members asked staff to include the fiscal note documentation with subsequent materials and noted that any ongoing budgetary commitments would be addressed during regular budget processes.