Cities, towns face economic crunch

PROVIDENCE—Cities and towns are facing some tough economic times.

At the North Kingstown town hall, taxpayers are not getting the same service they used to.

“We still have people who are here in line and they have to wait longer because there are only two people instead of three or four to wait on them,“ said North Kingstown Town Manager Michael Embury.

The town’s roads are not getting paved as quickly. The town’s municipal transfer station hours have changed. The station is closed for more days than it’s open, and it’s one of the changes taxpayers are going to have to get used to.

“You can only go so far before you are eliminating service entirely. So, it’s going to be a very challenging year,“ Embury said.

The numbers tell the story and the Senate Finance Committee listened to the cold facts for two hours on Thursday.

“We’re still seeing a decline in revenues and we’ve pretty much, I think, demonstrated that we’re at are limit for what we are able to give cities and towns. It’s a substantial amount of money,“ said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Daniel DaPonte, D-East Providence.

DaPonte said some municipalities have done the hard work of cutting costs but he warned that there’s more needed. He said towns can save by sharing.

“There’s much talk about consolidating, back office functions, different functions. We’ve got 39 individual entities and there needs to be greater collaboration and we’re looking at all of those things,“ he said.