North Kingstown Town Council FY 2026/2027 Preliminary Budget Work Session and Adoption - March 16, 2026
North Kingstown Town Council FY 2026/2027 Preliminary Budget Work Session and Adoption - March 16, 2026
The Town Council met on Monday, March 16, 2026, beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Municipal Office Building, for a full-day work session to review Town Manager Ralph's preliminary FY 2026/2027 budget with department heads, followed by public comment and adoption of the preliminary budget. The council also scheduled the public hearing for the municipal budget on April 13, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. and for the school budget at 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall Council Chambers, 80 Boston Neck Road.
Work Session: Department Budget Reviews
- The Town Manager opened with budget context: the municipal portion is under a 3% increase; the proposal avoids a tax increase for the third consecutive year; enterprise funds are self-sufficient; and fund balance is being used for one-time purchases, including $500,000 to avoid a tax increase. He noted OPEB funding has improved from 4.3% in 2018 to 20% funded. He warned that debt service will rise significantly when the school and public safety bonds are fully issued, with the first payment projected around $12 million and a $1.27 tax rate impact previously projected to voters.
- Health care costs were a recurring theme. The Town Manager stated the budget was built using a 10% health care cost increase, but actual costs are rising 17%, leaving an estimated $331,000 town-side shortfall and roughly another $400,000 on the school side. The manager recommended not deciding the remedy immediately and instead bringing options before the April public hearing.
- Council Member Page raised concerns about using fund balance because it creates a structural hole for the next year and asked about investing in renewable energy. The Town Manager responded that most fund-balance uses are one-time, remote net metering has lowered energy costs, and a $500,000 fund balance appropriation may be repeatable next year.
- The Police Chief reviewed a detailed budget, noting overtime is budgeted at $300,000 and that vacancies, academy training, and related salary savings should keep the overall personnel account balanced. The department is down three officers and will send three to the next academy. Police equipment, including radios, computers, tasers, and four new vehicles, will be funded through municipal court, restricted accounts, or other one-time funding rather than the operating budget. The chief also discussed a free mental health clinician four days a week and said one School Resource Officer is budgeted; the manager and chief expressed support for seeking state funding to add middle school coverage.
- The Fire Chief reviewed operations and personnel. Overtime is projected at $1 million; the Town Manager acknowledged the figure is difficult but said it was set intentionally to avoid a tax increase, with midyear monitoring and possible spending or hiring freezes. The chief reported one firefighter vacancy after a seven-year member left for Cranston, and noted 12 employees receive health care buyback.
- The Library Director presented a total library request of $1,841,359, with a town appropriation of $1,531,268, a 3% increase, and state aid of $302,406. The director and trustees explained state grant aid distribution to the town's three independent libraries. Council Member McCoy expressed support for library funding and called for prioritizing future capital improvements.
- The Building Official noted his department issues the second- or third-highest number of permits among Rhode Island cities and towns, and that ADU applications have increased from one or two per year to 15-20 after state law changes.
- The Finance Director presented a reduced general fund budget, personnel savings from retirements, and use of restricted fund balance for employee final pay. She noted the town received a clean single audit with no findings. Debt service was also reviewed, including the use of bond anticipation notes for the school and public safety projects.
- The Water Department presentation showed a total water fund budget of $7,548,688, with roughly $3.4 million transferred from the infrastructure replacement account for capital projects, including $1.9 million for Post Road water main replacement and $500,000 for Poplar Point. The director discussed a Saunderstown replacement well, leak detection via satellite scanning, and PFAS/PFOS treatment options, including a possible partnership with Kent County that could also allow future water sales to other communities. Council members raised concerns about water restrictions on new homes and whether buyers are informed.
- The Sewer Fund remains in deficit, with a $25,000 rate study included; pending litigation, including the Pagoda appeal, is not reflected in revenue. The Transfer Station budget is projected to increase revenue and decrease expenses.
- Recreation, Allen Harbor, and Golf enterprise funds were reviewed. Recreation reported successful town beach operations saving nearly $50,000 over the prior YMCA contract, and requested one-time items including wall ball and a grant match. Golf proposed a new cart barn and a new fleet of 75 carts under a lease/purchase, expecting to maintain a surplus. Allen Harbor is mostly level funded, with a wait list of 43 slips and 21 moorings.
- School Superintendent Dr. Duva presented the school committee-approved operating budget of $86,122,031. The Town Manager proposed a town appropriation of $66,021,823, a 3.5% increase and $283,834 below the school request. The superintendent said the budget covers needed programs, including mental health staffing, but acknowledged that the 10% health care assumption and a possible $283,834 cut could require about $700,000 in reductions. Projected year-end surplus was about $600,000, less than 1% of the budget. School officials also discussed enrollment of about 3,787 students, federal restricted revenue of $2,396,250, redistricting study, and moving hockey ice time funding to the athletics gate-receipt account.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Megan Riley, a North Kingstown School Committee member, resident, and parent, explained her dissenting vote on the school budget. She said she could not vote yes because the committee received information late and still had unanswered questions, and she criticized the school budget process, legal fees, and lack of attention to facilities. She said the town council's budget process appears better organized and urged starting the school budget cycle earlier.
Key Outcomes
- The council adopted the preliminary FY 2026/2027 budget by motion, with all funds approved as recommended except for noted opposition:
- General fund: $42,523,994
- Debt service fund: $6,183,256
- Allen Harbor enterprise fund: $473,167
- Golf course enterprise fund: $2,630,789
- Water fund: $7,548,688
- Municipal court fund: $320,792
- Sewer (SUA) fund: $2,302,362
- Transfer station fund: $1,357,263
- Library town appropriation: $1,531,268
- Library state aid: $302,406
- School town appropriation: $66,021,823
- School state aid: $13,374,489
- Restricted state aid for schools: $40,966
- Total preliminary budget: $144,611,263
- The school fund appropriation and the total preliminary budget each passed 4-1, with Council Member Elizabeth Hill Ross voting no. All other fund motions were approved unanimously.
- The Town Manager recommended that the council treat the adopted preliminary budget as the document to be presented at the April 13 public hearing, with possible amendments to address the health care shortfall to come before final adoption in late April.
- Correspondence was deferred to the next meeting, and the council adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
I got anything we're on yet. I can hear me, no? No, I mean live streaming, I mean I'm sorry. I don't feel bad that you should be good. We're good. Good morning. Welcome to the North Kingstown uh town council meeting for Monday uh March 16, 2026. Um to call this meeting to order, uh pursuant to an island general laws 42-46-6C. Notice of this meeting is post to the Secretary of State's website. Ask everybody to stand and uh join me. Thank you. We have uh quite the full day here today. We will be going from according to our in-house agenda from nine to five fifteen. Department by department, a review of uh the manager's proposed budget. Um Mr. Manager, we'll lead off with you today. So as I've done in the past, um I usually spend a couple of minutes just covering some preliminary information, which really helps set the table for the next nine hours. Um also, as you can see, for those of you who have done in the past, we've compressed today's schedule a little bit because a lot of times um you're right on top of things and we're calling in department heads, so I'd rather be a little bit behind than a little bit ahead. And so people could be waiting, and and I think it just makes a more efficient day. So hopefully that helps. Um as I've stated numerous times, this was a very challenging budget. So over the next nine hours, you're gonna be meeting with department heads. While the budgets before you may not be exactly how they propose them, um, after several meetings with each department head, I can show you I can assure you that we are all on the same page. So the budgets that you have before you are not exactly how they gave them to me. We've made a lot of changes, very innovative this year. Uh but in the past, as depending on depending on the question, uh obviously department heads will answer for their budgets, but because my fingerprints are all over the budget, um, every once in a while I'll jump in uh either to add to their answer, to elaborate a little bit, to give a more global look at exactly why we're doing certain things, because again, there's a you know there's a vision or a thought process behind a lot of decisions that were made. So uh I will I may jump in here and there. Some highlights that I do want to make you aware of. You probably know 90 percent of these things, but I'd just like to repeat them. So first, enterprise funds. When it comes to the enterprise funds, for the most part, the department head and deb will answer any questions on these to specific funds. Um I will add in when it comes to more global uh outlook as to why we do we're doing certain things. Uh again, a reminder, these budgets are self-sufficient. They are funded by the users, and so any changes that you make will not have any impact on the tax rate. It's completely separate from the general fund budget. We're also able to keep the municipal part portion of the budget under three percent. That's pretty significant considering that it funds salary increases, which most of them are more than three percent, benefit increases, which we're budgeting at 10 percent, which I'll talk about that in a little while. So this wasn't easy. The way we did that is basically we used fund balance for a handful of one-time purchases. So when there's a budget, so for police, when they come in, you'll see there isn't any new purchases. But they are buying four new police cars. They are buying things or using the municipal court or the fund balance other funds that we have to fund those to take them out of the budget. We're also using the fund balance for OPEB, which I'm gonna talk about in a little bit, and also putting $500,000 of fund balance into the budget to ensure no tax increase. We also, and I just want to remind you, in case when we start talking about fund balance, because it's pretty important in this budget. Um, I've told you in the past that we may I may need to come to the council to use fund balance to fund for the overage and the cost estimate for the public safety complex. That'll be your call, but please know that that's in the back of my mind as as well. So it's important that this was projected, but it's important that I let you know that. When it comes to the fund balance, it's gonna be a lot of questions on that. We are using it for the first time. We're dipping into it, but uh we want to prevent a structural imbalance.
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