East Greenwich posts modest pre-audit surplus; rescue-billing lifts revenues
November 10, 2025 | East Greenwich, Kent County, Rhode Island
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East Greenwich ' The town's finance director presented pre-audit numbers at the Nov. 10 council meeting showing a favorable budgetary position for FY25 and an early favorable projection for FY26.
Patricia Sunderland told the council that June 30 projections showed $28.048 million in revenues versus a $27 million budget, producing a $1.04 million favorable variance. After year-end transfers and expenditures, the net budgetary surplus reported was $862,000; GAAP surplus was reported at $362,000. "Departmental revenues exceeded budget by $225,000, particularly strong in the fire department rescue billing," Sunderland said.
Sunderland and other staff noted several departmental overspends and transfers: police overtime and a $170,000 transfer to a police building improvement fund for HVAC replacement; fire overtime and transfers to a capital equipment fund; information-technology overruns largely tied to cybersecurity and software maintenance; and a public-works overspend related to refuse collection and utility expenses. The LED street-lighting conversion was cited as a completed capital project that had repaid general-fund advances faster than projected.
Councilors asked whether transfers (for example, the police HVAC project) were drawn from capital budgets or from year-end surplus; Sunderland said the transfers were funded from year-end surplus and moved into capital reserve funds for fixed-asset accounting. The council and manager also discussed revenue from a New England Tech pilot agreement that was currently coded to a miscellaneous revenue line; staff agreed to reallocate that to state revenues in future reports for clarity.
On service charging, staff said the town is drafting an ordinance to expand billable rescue services. "We're looking at additional revenues that are billable services that we're not currently charging for, but we need an ordinance in order to do that," Sunderland said.
What happens next: Finance staff will share the updated FY27 budget memorandum with departments, reclassify certain revenue line items for transparency, and return with any proposed ordinance language if the council wishes to expand rescue-billing authority.
Patricia Sunderland told the council that June 30 projections showed $28.048 million in revenues versus a $27 million budget, producing a $1.04 million favorable variance. After year-end transfers and expenditures, the net budgetary surplus reported was $862,000; GAAP surplus was reported at $362,000. "Departmental revenues exceeded budget by $225,000, particularly strong in the fire department rescue billing," Sunderland said.
Sunderland and other staff noted several departmental overspends and transfers: police overtime and a $170,000 transfer to a police building improvement fund for HVAC replacement; fire overtime and transfers to a capital equipment fund; information-technology overruns largely tied to cybersecurity and software maintenance; and a public-works overspend related to refuse collection and utility expenses. The LED street-lighting conversion was cited as a completed capital project that had repaid general-fund advances faster than projected.
Councilors asked whether transfers (for example, the police HVAC project) were drawn from capital budgets or from year-end surplus; Sunderland said the transfers were funded from year-end surplus and moved into capital reserve funds for fixed-asset accounting. The council and manager also discussed revenue from a New England Tech pilot agreement that was currently coded to a miscellaneous revenue line; staff agreed to reallocate that to state revenues in future reports for clarity.
On service charging, staff said the town is drafting an ordinance to expand billable rescue services. "We're looking at additional revenues that are billable services that we're not currently charging for, but we need an ordinance in order to do that," Sunderland said.
What happens next: Finance staff will share the updated FY27 budget memorandum with departments, reclassify certain revenue line items for transparency, and return with any proposed ordinance language if the council wishes to expand rescue-billing authority.
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