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Town manager proposes FY2027 budget aiming for no tax-rate increase amid rising costs
Summary
Town Manager Ralph Mullis presented a proposed FY2027 budget that aims to avoid a tax-rate increase while accounting for rising health-care premiums, debt service tied to school and public-safety bond projects, and a modest municipal spending increase.
Town Manager Ralph Mullis presented the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget to the North Kingstown Town Council on March 9, saying the municipal portion would increase by less than 3% while the town would seek to avoid raising the tax rate.
"This proposed budget will not result in an increase in our tax rate," Mullis said. He noted the municipal portion of the budget reflects a 2.98% increase, debt service will rise about 5.71% to fund school and public-safety bond projects, and the town appropriation to education is proposed at about a 3.5% increase. Mullis said the school department accounts for roughly 61.1% of the town's total budget.
Mullis described several converging budget pressures: "record-setting increases in health care costs, increased tax exemptions, increasing debt service, costs to finance a new school, and state-required minimum wage increases." He alerted the council that health-care premiums initially budgeted at 10% had been revised upward: "We're now looking at about 17.1%." He said that updated figure would require additional adjustments by both town and school budgets.
To provide tax relief while covering priorities, Mullis said the proposed budget would use $500,000 of the town's municipal fund balance for direct tax relief. He reported the municipal fund balance at $21,600,000 and a combined municipal and school fund balance of $30,700,000. Mullis also listed funded capital priorities: $750,000 earmarked for paving of more than 150 miles of roads, repairs to a community center, improvements under the asset management capital improvement program, and replacement of end-of-life IT equipment.
Mullis said enterprise funds (water, golf course, Allen Harbor Marina, sewer, transfer station, and municipal court) are self-supporting and do not affect the tax rate. He also highlighted economic-development partnerships and said the proposed budget includes more than $8,000,000 in direct funding from Quonset-related sources tied to the Quanta Business Park.
Mullis closed by outlining next steps: an all-day budget session with department heads on March 16 and a preliminary budget adoption planned that night, followed by a public hearing on April 13, and invited residents to review the published budget booklet.
