STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, COUNTY OF NEWPORT

The Town Council of the Town of Tiverton, County, and State aforesaid held a Special Council Meeting on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 6:00 PM at the Tiverton Senior Center, 207 Canonicus Street, Tiverton, Rhode Island 02878.

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

Council President Edwards V called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

3. ROLL CALL

Present

President John G. Edwards V	Vice President David J. Paull	Craig R. Committo
David Perry	Deborah G. Janick	Denise M. deMedeiros
Michael S. Burk

 

Solicitor Marcello, Administrator Jones, Town Clerk Chabot, and Deputy Clerk Veegh were also present.

 

4. GENERAL BUSINESS

A. Review, discussion, and possible vote on the Proposed Fiscal Year 2027 Expenditure Budget for:

     1. Tiverton School Department

     2. All Municipal Departments, including but not limited to Debt Service, Town Clerk, Town Hall, Town

         Administrator, Tax Assessor, Treasurer, etc.

 

The School Finance Director, Andrade, presented a $10,000 check from the Pocasset Middle School Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) to the council for the Playground Renovations at the Pocasset Playground. Treasurer Saurette accepted the check.

 

School Superintendent Haskins and Finance Director Andrade presented the school’s proposed FY27 Budget to the Council, totaling $36,769,769. This reflects a 3.75% increase in local town appropriation and a 3.11% increase in total appropriation (which includes state education aid). This is a zero-growth, maintenance-level budget that includes no new programs, no new services, and no staffing additions. School priorities focus strictly on core instruction, fulfilling legally mandated services, and balancing fiscal responsibility.

 

The district has experienced an 8% decrease in staffing, a reduction of 35 positions total since FY25. The FY27 plan maintains the status quo model with 220 total FTE’s.

 

Reductions implemented to lean the budget profile include:

·         Elimination of one regular education transportation bus route (~$94,000 savings)

·         Elimination of the Rhode Island Student Assistance counselor contract (~$20,000 reduction)

·         Elimination of an underutilized afternoon supervisor position at Tiverton High School (~$5,000 savings)

·         Establishing a specialized in-district program for current out-of-district special education placement ($78,000 net savings)

Council members questioned the decline in overall student enrollment. They explained the district currently pays $16,000 per pupil for 85 student placements in external Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. Additionally, Tiverton has @93 home-schooled students.

 

Mr. Andrade noted that healthcare premium increases came in at 13.1% (excluding GLP-1 coverage). Because this spike arrived after the budget was submitted, the school department faces an extra $60,000 liability not structurally accounted for in the present documents.

 

The council questioned why high school buses frequently run empty while middle school routes are entirely full. Superintendent Haskins confirmed the district is utilizing a state-funded consultant (Transpar) to analyze and potentially consolidate future bus lines, which may require shifting school start and end times in coming years.

 

A lengthy debate occurred regarding how $241,455 in capital gaming (casino) revenue allocations are handled in the budget. Council members argued that one-time capital purchases (like Chromebooks and textbook curriculum) should be completely backed out of the recurring operational budget to prevent artificially inflating the district's maintenance of effort obligations. Mr. Andrade will review.

 

Superintendent Haskins and Mr. Andrade answered various questions from the council on line items in the proposed budget request.

 

Councilor Perry introduced a savings proposal document during the meeting. There was a discussion regarding who had access to or awareness of the document. Since neither the Superintendent nor the Finance Director has seen the document, they need time to review.

 

Council agreed to table voting on the school budget until the next meeting.

 

Councilors then discussed the proposed Municipal budget, including Debt Service, Tax Assessor, Treasurer, Insurance, Pension Plans, Social Security, Unemployment Security, and Unfunded Liability.

 

No votes were taken.

 

B. Review, discussion, and possible vote on the Fiscal Year 2027 Revenue Projections

 

Councilors discussed the FY27 Revenue projections, including Building Permits, PAYT Transfer, General Fund balance withdrawal, and Hotel tax.

 

No votes were taken.

 

The council discussed the May 13 deadline to adopt a preliminary unified budget and set a public hearing date. The council scheduled May 12 to finalize the preliminary budget and set the hearing date.

 

5. ADJOURNMENT

Councilor Paull motioned to adjourn the meeting. Councilor deMedeiros seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously passed. The meeting adjourned at 9:14 p.m.

 

 

A True Copy.

 

 

ATTEST______________________________________

                              Joan B. Chabot, CMC, Town Clerk