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Work session: Harrisville drafts budget with police, parks and roads priorities and an estimated $500,000 gap
Summary
Department heads walked the council through the draft budget — police salary and training items, parks programming and portable-restroom costs, and public-works road and sewer maintenance — leaving a draft shortfall of about $500,000. Council asked for department-priority lists and additional revenue verification before truth-in-taxation moves.
Harrisville department leaders reviewed draft budget details during a work session in which staff highlighted priorities and constraints and the city manager summarized a draft deficit of roughly $500,000.
Police (Speaker 1) said wages and salaries overall would drop from last year’s budget in part because of retirements and lower-paid replacements, but noted line items for training, vehicle replacement and equipment rotation would remain. Department presenters said court‑security wages are being moved into the court budget for clearer accounting; travel and training needs are rising to support several new officers.
Parks and Recreation staff (Speaker 7) presented a line-by-line parks budget that includes portable-restroom costs (~$9,700), uniform and safety allowances, a playground‑replacement schedule and event spending for the Easter egg hunt, fall festival and movie nights. Parks staff said maintenance and staffing capacity are the main constraints to taking on new capital projects.
Public Works presenters discussed road, stormwater and sewer plans: a phased sidewalk replacement (aiming to do roughly one quarter of the city each year), a multi-year sewer-manhole lining and infiltration-reduction program, and an identified failing storm pipe on West Terrace Road needing engineering estimates. They explained that Class B/C state funds and other restricted revenues must be used for qualifying road projects, limiting flexibility.
At the end of the session staff summarized the draft budget showing anticipated expenditures exceeding revenues by approximately $500,000. Council members directed department heads to return prioritized lists of program reductions or deferred projects and asked staff to verify the status of several revenue assumptions (intergovernmental grants, property/sales-tax projections) before making any decisions on property-tax increases or service cuts.
Next steps: Departments to submit prioritized budget cuts and contingency options; staff to refine revenue projections and to return with a balanced‑budget plan prior to any truth‑in‑taxation action.
