°ÄÃÅ6ºÏ¿ª½±½á¹û

Mayor Brett Smiley unveiled his Fiscal Year 2025 budget Wednesday night, proposing $598.6 million to keep the city running, a 3% increase over the current year. Among the highlights are unchanged tax rates, a historic boost in education funding, increases in public-safety spending and extra money for city services such as flood prevention.

Tax rates hold steady, with revenue boosted by new PILOT deals

Unlike Smiley's last budget, locals won't see a residential tax increase. But they may see a technical change.

Smiley wants to eliminate the homestead exemption, which reduces taxes for homeowners, and simply break down the residential rate into two categories: Owner-occupied at $10.46 per $1,000 and non-owner occupied at $18.35 per $1,000.

There is legislation in front of lawmakers to formalize that change. The city hopes the switch will attract more newcomers by highlighting the tax rate compared with those in other areas. (Providence has the eighth-lowest tax rate in the state.)

The commercial tax rate will remain unchanged at $35.10 per $1,000, as will the tangible tax rate at $53.40 per $1,000.

The city is likely to avoid tax hikes because of its renegotiated payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOT agreements, with the city's higher education institutions. Between local and state PILOT agreements, Providence will bring in $53 million.

°ÄÃÅ6ºÏ¿ª½±½á¹û:Mayor Smiley's new plan has city's universities paying more. Here's how much.

In prepared remarks for his budget address before the City Council on Wednesday, Smiley called out Lifespan, which has not reached a new PILOT agreement with the city.

"To the Lifespan leadership team – it’s time to come to the table with a meaningful contribution," Smiley said. "I am confident that we can also reach a fair, equitable and mutually beneficial agreement that ensures we grow together in the decades to come."

$114M would go to the Police Department. Here's how it would be spent

Smiley is proposing $114 million for the Police Department, a $7.5-million increase over the current year. That would help fund:

• 36 new officers finishing training in the fall
• Pay for a new class of 40 officers who would train next spring.

Smiley has said the department is understaffed. The city's police chief, Col. Oscar Perez, wants to boost the current force of 423 officers.

For the Fire Department, Smiley proposes an $8.2-million increase in funding, to nearly $100 million. That would help fund:

• The current fire academy
• The recruitment of another 40 firefighters for an academy to follow. Those hires would be ready to serve in Fiscal Year 2026.

Smiley is also asking for:

• $69,000 for a new quality-control employee, who would monitor dispatch calls and how they're handled.
• $100,000 boost for the Go Team, a social work team that assists with emergency calls involving members of vulnerable populations.
• $100,000 for noise-triggered camera installation throughout the city. But he hasn't yet gotten approval from the General Assembly to use them, and there has been skepticism from lawmakers about whether the approach automates policing too much.

°ÄÃÅ6ºÏ¿ª½±½á¹û:Behind the scene of crime in Providence, the Go Team helps heal

Funding for 'sewer team' to prevent floods as rains intensify

Totally new in Smiley's budget is a nearly $136,000 investment in a sewer team of three full-time hires who would mitigate flooding by staying on top of storm-drain clearance. It was not immediately clear how many people currently do that job. But flooding has become a serious risk in Providence – like much of Rhode Island – where streets have been shut down and traffic diverted during sudden downpours.

Other spending on neighborhood services includes:

• $53,000 for a community liaison that would support Department of Public Works efforts
• $93,000 for infrastructure improvements
• Nearly $71,000 for another landscape architect to help with parks

Historic investment in Providence Public School District

Smiley is seeking to raise the city's contribution to public schools by $3 million, the largest increase in seven years, which would put the total contribution at $133 million. Other increases in the children and families category include:

• $48,000 more for recreation programming
• $50,000 more for the Providence Public Library
• $255,000 more for the Community Libraries of Providence, nine branches that years ago broke off from the main library

Better court operations, digitized records and more

Following a Municipal Court audit that showed a breakdown in communication and customer service, Smiley proposes more funding for the court's case-management system, as well as more dollars for housing and probate courts. The city, in a budget briefing, said that would "improve customer service and court operations."

°ÄÃÅ6ºÏ¿ª½±½á¹û:Was someone rude when you called about a ticket in Providence? An audit found the problem.

Smiley is also looking to digitize Department of Inspections and Standards records – think code-violation information – for $200,000.

This story may be updated online following the mayor's budget address Wednesday night.