Taveras outlines response to fiscal crisis

As Providence Mayor Angel Taveras faces reporters at 10 am, his office says he’ll take the following steps to respond to the city’s fiscal crisis:

• Effective immediately, the Mayor is taking a 10% pay cut.
• The Mayor will submit a FY12 budget that cuts the Mayor’s office payroll by 10%.
• Effective immediately, 13 non-union positions, including several school administration positions, have been eliminated – resulting in $1.7 million in savings to the City.
• Department Directors have been instructed to submit budgets for next year that reflect at least a 10-15% overall reduction. 
• Four to six schools will be closed and a number of teacher positions will be eliminated. On Tuesday, the Mayor published a timeline for the process by which schools will be recommended for closure.
• There will be an immediate review and freeze on all non-essential spending and hiring across City departments. Numerous unfilled positions will remain vacant and will be eliminated from next year’s budget.  Moving forward, all hiring decisions must be approved by Director of Administration Michael D’Amico and Chief of Staff John Pagliarini.
• There will be an immediate review and renegotiation of contracts with third-party vendors.
• The City has cancelled its contract with a benefits administration company. This contract cost the City $1.4 million last year.  By bringing this service in-house we have created an annual savings of $900,000.
• The City will seek to renegotiate union contracts to produce cost savings.
• The City will negotiate with tax-exempt universities and hospitals to increase support for the City.
• The City will lobby the State to fully implement the Statewide Education Funding Formula.
• The Taveras administration will accelerate the consolidation of City departments and services. This process is underway and next year’s budget will reflect efforts to cut costs while streamlining City services and making it easier for citizens to access government.
• The Taveras administration will actively pursue pension reform.
• Providence will aggressively pursue short- and long-term opportunities to work with neighboring cities and towns to make regionalization of services a reality. 
• The Taveras administration will work in close collaboration with the City Council, the State and the community to pursue new ideas for reducing spending.

Mayor Taveras pledged to move through a fiscal remediation and budgeting process in a way that enables citizens to get involved and stay engaged. His plan includes neighborhood meetings, and an easy-to-use website where residents can find accurate and timely information, and share feedback.  

“The Municipal Finances Review Panel’s findings clearly reveal that the City’s existing fiscal foundation is crumbling and is not sustainable.  We must work together to build a foundation for a new Providence – one that is based on transparency and fiscal responsibility, and that ensures the future prosperity of our great City,” said Taveras.