February 22, 2007 Contact: Sue Baker
For Immediate Release 738-2000
City won’t seek waiver of 5.25 percent cap, Avedisian says
Decision is another in a series of measures meant to keep spending in line
WARWICK – Mayor Scott Avedisian said today that he has notified the School Department that under no circumstances would the city appeal to the state for a waiver of the 5.25 percent spending cap mandated for all municipalities.
In his letter to School Department Business Manager Robert Dooley, Avedisian noted that costs associated with the School Department currently account for 62 percent of the city’s overall budget.
“On the municipal side of the ledger, our department directors have been asked each year to seek grants, streamline services, reorganize job responsibilities and prioritize project needs in order to keep their departments running effectively and efficiently, even though, in many instances, their annual budgets have increased just slightly above what is necessary to meet contractual salary and benefit increases,” he wrote.
“As I have stated in the past, I believe that there are many ways that the School Department can greatly reduce its overall expenses, and, in some cases, increase its revenue,” he continued. (For at least three years, Avedisian has publicly proposed a variety of cost-saving measures, including consolidation of departments, purchasing power and creating programs to reduce the costs associated with out-of-district placements.)
As he prepares his FY08 budget, Avedisian has already announced that he has authorized Finance Director Ernest Zmyslinski to refinance bonds, for a savings in the next fiscal year of $500,000; has notified department directors that he will not budget for any new bonded debt; and that he asked department directors to look carefully at their current budgets to see where cost savings may be realized.
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