The first reading of the microphone.

No, it wasn't on the trigger.

You can hear me.

First reading of the 26-27 uh proposed budget.

Uh so city uh madam clerk, will you please take a roll?

David Carlin.

Here Lynn Underwood Segley here.

Charlie Holder.

Here.

Cycam Zavorovan.

Here.

G Marina Politano.

Here.

Ellen Pinnock.

Yeah.

Stephanie Smythe.

Here.

There's a quorum present, Mr.

Chair.

Please stand up for Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag.

And to the Republic, which is the individual with liberty and justice for the uh so with the special meeting tonight, we don't have a citizens form.

So we're gonna get right into right to work.

Sure.

This is a budget hearing and the first uh reading of ordinances on the 2027 proposed budget.

Uh motion to open the public hearing and hear any testimony about the proposed budget.

Second, we have a motion a second.

Is there anyone from the public that would like to come up and uh comment on the proposed budget?

This is gonna be the opportunity for the public to speak on the budget.

Uh because after we close a public hearing, this it'll be pretty much strictly council discussion.

Okay.

Yeah.

For the whole thing.

Uh I looked over the uh uh exhibits and uh thumb shock.

Uh don't really understand a bunch of I don't speak money really well, but I can add and subtract some uh I don't understand uh the change of uh the school capital fund being cut in half.

Uh sixty-seven percent of uh uh roadway improvements being uh removed from three million to one million uh Bellevue Avenue being zeroed out for repairs, uh seawall repairs being zeroed, uh Navy hospital uh got changed.

I think wasn't quite sure how what the meaning was and then the uh one's kind of mystifying.

We put a lot of stock, a lot of time, and a lot of effort by the planning department and other people uh promoting the uh comprehensive plan and how important it was to the city, and all of a sudden it's zero.

We don't need it on that's what I'm hearing questions.

What's the what's the question?

Why is all that?

That was a question.

Answers.

Yeah, uh, I can I'll have to get back to the other questions, but I can speak to the um comprehensive plan.

What we did is uh we found last year that when we needed to fund it, we had not put money aside year after year for a tenure process, and so we needed to come up with approximately three hundred thousand dollars all at once.

So recognizing that in the out years from planning ahead for the next time that the review will be due in in 2037, we're gonna set aside about $35,000 a year over a nine-year period so that it's not a shock expense once that expense comes due.

Uh this year we had the flexibility in the in year zero to remove that amount to make way for some other needed capital projects.

So it's zero for this year and thirty-five thousand for each of the next four years in the plan.

And it will go beyond that as well to ensure we have enough to fund that when it's required by law.

And the uh road improvement going from three million to two to one.

Yeah, a great deal of that was due to the uh loss of the bond funding that we appreciated and used for the first two years of the road improvement program where we had three million dollars set aside for each of those years, with that infrastructure bond allocation now spent.

Uh we have come back down to our more traditional road improvement pace, which is the number that you see represented this year.

Yeah, the thing that bothers me about uh is reductions in uh capital uh things, the place is deteriorating.

Uh Bellevue Avenue gets worse day by day.

Uh if you need any uh take a drive up there.

Um a hundred thousand dollars is allocated to the Bellevue Avenue project every year from the maritime funds, but it's zero.

No, it's the it's in the maritime budget.

No, I I only read I only know what I can what I can read.

But it is uh the roads aren't getting any better.

300,000 isn't gonna cut it.

You're already doing things with the road that you promised you wouldn't.

There's an ordinance that says fix the roads, fix the roads with cement, not uh, not asphalt, city ordinance.

You know, we're pouring a lot of asphalt out there, and the concrete is falling apart.

Concrete patches are falling apart.

Go up, look at the area around the biking, uh hotel Bellevue, and uh Catherine, right?

Take a walk, be careful.

Thank you.

Uh Colleen Burns Germain, 70 Britain Road and Superintendent Newport Public Schools.

First of all, I want to thank the city manager and the city finance director for working with the schools to try to address this year's uh budget and also for the planning for the future.

Want to thank the council for the tentative four percent that is in the budget at this moment, understanding and realizing that the way we fund public schools, not unique to Newport, but statewide is broken, and hopefully it will be fixed so that we will be able to adequately fund our schools the way we should, based on the needs of our children, and not necessarily the number of children in a school district.

But I want to thank all of you right now, and hopefully at the end I will as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, anyone else?

Okay, motion to close the public hearing.

Motion and second, any discussion.

All in favor say aye.

Council Carlin.

Thank you.

Uh with appreciation to Dr.

Jermaine, Mr.

Rice, and to the public who are afforded the opportunity uh to speak at the first hearing of the budget, and to the administration, the solicitor's office and others involved in the creation of the budget.

Uh I certainly do, and I know my colleagues do as well, although I don't want to speak for them.

I'm confident I can say we appreciate the hard work that everybody has put into the proposed 2027 fiscal 2027 budget.

It's difficult year.

It's difficult yeah for the state, for the federal government, as it always is, uh, and certainly as I just said for the the Newport City Council or for the city of Newport and the school department.

Unfortunately, we don't have at the city level, or the state level the opportunity that the federal government has or the ability that the federal government has, which is to put us into a deficit spend situation.

Having said all that, and knowing that the council uh can and will come back to address the necessary changes, but most important of all, understanding that there are new circumstances to use to the best of my ability to use.

I'm usually not one uh who who lacks for wording, but circumstances have changed in the last several hours where members of the council have been presented new figures by the administration, and I at this point I'm simply gonna shut up and make my motion.

Move to table.

I seek a second, second.

We have a motion and second to table first reading of the proposed budget.

Council Carl, that we're asking.

That is correct, and uh I will ask the solicitor.

But Mr.

Chairman, you know well uh that a move to table is a non-debatable item.

As such, I call the question, all right.

Those in favor of uh endorsing a terrible idea of tabling the budget before we even have a chance to discuss it.

Please raise your right hand.

Those in favor, please uh all those against, please raise your right hand.

City solicitor, we got it, Mr.

Chairman.

I move to adjourn.

Can I have a second, please?

Second, motion and second.

Uh to adjourn any discussion.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed, say nay.

Nay.

No,