Elorza’s Budget — Another Year, Another Theme and a 6.5% Increase in Spending

Elorza’s Budget — Another Year, Another Theme and a 6.5% Increase in Spending

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza loves themes — political catchphrases. He was elected in 2014 running for “One Providence” and in 2019 the theme was “Investing in Providence’s Future by Investing in Providence’s People.” That was a budget focused on education.

Elorza said in his budget address in 2019, “We are ALL IN for education and the investments we have made over the past four years reflects our commitment to putting Providence youth on a path to achieve middle class by middle age. By expanding Pre-K learning and access to early intervention programs we are ensuring that our littlest learners have access to the education they deserve early on.”

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

But just two months later, the Johns Hopkins report on Providence Schools ranked them among the worst in the country and the report's findings led to the State’s takeover of the school department.

Now in 2021, Elorza has a new theme “Providence as a Leading American City.”

The proposed spending is also up and up significantly over the proposed budget in 2020.  Last year, Elorza proposed a $506,843,316 budget and this year it jumps by 6.5% to $539,937,743.

Elorza's Vision

Elorza’s vision of a leading American city comes at a time in which the state is operating the Providence Schools, much of downtown is in distress with empty storefronts and the city’s infrastructure needs hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements.

Providence continues to have approximately $2 billion in unfunded liability to pensions and OPEB. Elorza did not address the city's ongoing financial long-term financial black cloud -- instead, he painted a rosy picture of Providence’s finances.

“This budget builds off our work to keep Providence’s finances in the best position they have been in recent history; it invests in our critical infrastructure, such as our schools, roads, parks and rec centers; it reflects our values by creating a safe and just community; and it doubles down on our investments in young people, all together positioning us for an incredible recovery. Providence, if we continue our work together, we can move forward ambitiously, creatively and without limitation. There is no better mid-size city in America, but there’s so much more to do. Let’s do it together,” said Elorza.

 

What to Do with Federal Funds — $150 Million

Elorza did not lay out in his plans the influx of latest federal stimulus funds and those dollars were not included in his proposed budget.

“To begin this work, I will be working with the City Council to establish a committee to help make recommendations and guide us as we look to invest over $150M in American Rescue Plan funds. As we think about how to invest this money, I want to lay out my vision for how these funds can complement and build off of the work we’ve been doing. Some parts of this vision will require ARPA funds, some will city funds, and others won’t require public funds at all, but they all fit together as one,” said Elorza.

One thing Elorza can’t do is use the funds to plug pension holes. That is not allowed under the federal program.

Much of Elorza’s budget speech was about policing, race, and his reparations program. “This budget includes funding to engage the broader public in this Reconciliation work and I ask everyone throughout the city to participate. I know that these conversations are sometimes uncomfortable, but that is the point. Sweeping this under the rug has not served us well and there are several examples of other countries and societies that have used reconciliation processes to bring their people together. I believe we will accomplish the same thing here,” said Elorza.