Town budget faces 11th hour chaos

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA
June 2nd 2023

RICHMOND – With the budget referendum just three days away, a letter has been mailed to residents urging them to defeat the proposed spending plan.

Signed by Chariho School Committee member and Republican political operative, Clay Johnson, the letter was written on behalf of the “Forgotten Taxpayers” political action committee.

The mailing, days before the vote, is a familiar strategy, employed most recently last spring, in an unsuccessful bid to defeat the Chariho schools budget.

The letter urges residents to reject the budget at the June 5 referendum, the town’s first – ever budget referendum, which has replaced the Financial Town Meeting.

Johnson’s letter invites residents to join and donate to the Forgotten Taxpayers PAC. It also invites taxpayers to attend a strategy meeting on June 7, and to contact Town Council President Mark Trimmer to voice their concerns.

“Mark is the swing vote on the budget, respectfully ask him to TRIM the budget,” the letter reads.

Johnson’s letter praises the residents who spoke at council meetings against the budget.

“I watched several brave citizens speak at a recent town council meeting,” it states. “They told their stories, tears included, about the impact of poor town spending decisions. One taxpayer pleaded with the Town Council for tax relief. Councilors Sheehan and Colasante heard that plea.”

Trimmer responded to Johnson’s letter with a written statement, urging residents to vote for the budget.

The statement reads:

“Hello Richmond residents!

We have a ballot on Monday to APPROVE the Town Budget. The Town Budget as presented is a very frugal and responsible budget that will keep our town fiscally stable in a sea of instability, with no tax increases.

There is a group in town working to reject this responsible Town Budget and inject chaos where there was none.

As Town Council President and a taxpayer, I implore you to please vote on Monday and say YES to APPROVE our Town Budget and to make a statement that we embrace fiscal responsibility and reject chaos and negative politics!”

Some budget background 

The proposed 2023-24 budget is $29.4 million, an increase of just under 5%.

The spending plan, which contains no property tax increase,  was approved by the Town Council on May 2, during the second of two budget hearings.

Voting in favor of the budget were Trimmer, Vice President Richard Nassaney and councilor Samantha Wilcox.

Councilors Helen Sheehan and Michael Colasante were opposed and demanded further reductions. The two council members pushed for additional cuts to the fund balance, which had already been reduced at the first budget workshop from 16% to 15%. That reduction trimmed $250,000 from the budget, but Finance Director Laura Kenyon warned that the funds would have to be repaid next year.

Colasante and Sheehan argued that taxpayers deserved additional relief with Colasante demanding that the fund balance be reduced as low as 10%, however, they were out-voted.

Trimmer said the new budget contained many existing financial obligations.

“I want to emphasize that the Finance Director is dealing with institutional debt,” he said. “It’s not like we started fresh. We had debt that goes back quite some time and we have expenses and commitments that go back quite some time, go back over two different finance directors and a half a dozen councils, and it's not like you can just wave a magic wand. It’s not Monopoly money. This is people’s lives, people’s jobs and it needs to be done seriously and judiciously and not recklessly to create chaos.”

What happens if voters reject the budget?

After attending an emergency meeting at the Town Hall on Friday morning to discuss the opposition to the budget and the consequences of its possible defeat, Trimmer said his biggest concern was that budget supporters would not take the trouble to vote but that budget opponents would, leading to a defeat.

“People are more concerned about playing a round of golf or going to the beach, what tanning oil they’re going to use, or whatever,” he said. “They’re not worried about a town’s budget. They figure somebody else will vote, but they don’t realize that in this case, if someone else votes, they’re going to vote ‘no,’ and we’re going to have chaos.

If the budget is defeated, Article 5 of the Home Rule Charter states that town can hold a second referendum on an amended budget.

If the town does not schedule a second referendum or, if the budget is defeated in a second referendum, the town will operate under the current budget and continue its payments to the Chariho School District.

The budget referendum is on Monday, June 5. Voters can cast their ballots at the Richmond Town Hall from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.