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Newport council adopts higher levy, advances temporary plan to shore up schools' shortfall
Summary
After weeks of limited notice, the City Council accepted a superintendent notice of a multimillion‑dollar school shortfall, approved a 3.95% levy that yields about $1.8 million in additional revenue and asked administration and the school committee to finalize a conditional short‑term loan and recovery plan for immediate staffing needs.
The Newport City Council on Wednesday night voted to adopt amended tax‑rate language and advance a 3.95% levy increase while receiving a formal notice from the Newport Public Schools about a projected budget shortfall that could reach millions for fiscal 2026–27.
Colleen Burns Germaine, superintendent of Newport Public Schools, told the council the district faces “a very significant millions of dollars shortfall” and thanked the city for ongoing work to find options that could restore teaching positions. She urged quick action so layoffs could be reversed or mitigated.
The administration’s finance director presented recalculated property‑tax rates intended to keep owner‑occupied residents’ mill rate unchanged by raising the owner‑exemption. “The residential owner‑occupied rate would be at $7.177; non‑owner occupied would be $9.602; the commercial rate would be $10.766,” Director Jim Nolan said, presenting figures the council used to set the levy. Nolan told the council that moving the levy to 3.95% would produce roughly $1,800,000 in additional collectible property‑tax revenue.
Council debate split on how to use that revenue. Councilors said the schools should receive the 4% maintenance‑of‑effort increase already in the proposed budget while some of the additional levy revenue would be earmarked for roads and sidewalks. Several councilors and residents urged prioritizing school staff and student programs.
Council discussion also turned to an administration proposal to advance a short‑term loan and a restricted reserve to help the school department close its immediate fiscal‑year gap. The city proposal described a combination of: (a) a roughly $1.2 million loan from the city’s unrestricted fund balance, to be reimbursed from future state housing‑aid receipts; and (b) a restricted reserve of about $1.5 million to offset tuition and private‑placement risk. Administration said the loan would be structured so that it would not count toward the school district’s maintenance‑of‑effort without the state education commissioner’s approval.
The council agreed to accept the communication from the superintendent and to move forward with the amended revenue ordinance that incorporated the revised tax rates. Members instructed staff to return with conditional language and commissioner approvals needed to make any loan or reserve official, and scheduled a special follow‑up meeting to finalize terms and ensure compliance with state rules. The superintendent said timing is urgent: layoffs were scheduled to be posted and the district must run a job‑placement process; rapid clarity is needed to recall teachers.
The council emphasized oversight and conditions on any assistance: members requested clear repayment sources, documentation that funds would not be treated as ongoing maintenance‑of‑effort, and stronger finance‑to‑finance coordination with the school committee. Several councilors also proposed independent or forensic reviews to better understand the drivers of the shortfall and to ensure longer‑term structural fixes.
The council left open the exact structure of supplemental aid and directed staff to work with the school committee and the state commissioner’s office to return an executable, conditional plan at the next special meeting.
