North Kingstown Town Council FY2026-2027 Budget Public Hearing - April 13, 2026
North Kingstown Town Council FY2026-2027 Budget Public Hearing - April 13, 2026
On April 13, 2026, the North Kingstown Town Council held a public hearing at Town Hall Council Chambers, 80 Boston Neck Road, beginning at 6:00 PM, on the preliminary adopted budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. Notice was posted on the Secretary of State's website under RIGL 42-46-6(c). The agenda divided the hearing into an all-funds municipal portion at 6:00 PM and a School Fund portion at 7:00 PM. Town Manager Ralph Mullis presented the municipal budget; the School Committee presented the school budget after the committee arrived around 7:03 PM due to a scheduling conflict. The council scheduled final budget deliberation for April 27 at the high school.
Public Hearing - Municipal Budget
- Town Manager Ralph Mullis presented the $130+ million preliminary budget and highlighted the municipal fund's components. The 16 administrative budgets total $11,749,408, slightly below FY26. Public safety totals $24,986,990, up 5.39%, driven almost entirely by police and fire personnel and benefit costs. Public works totals $5,787,326, up 1.1%. Debt service increases 5.71% as school bond and public safety complex bond payments begin; the projected total debt payment exceeds $12 million and adds an estimated $1.27 to the tax rate over the first two years. The library appropriation is up 3%. The originally recommended school appropriation was $66,021,823, up 3.5%.
- The manager reported the residential tax rate would remain unchanged at $11.04 for the third consecutive year, with $4.2 million in tax relief through exemptions. OPEB is 25% funded, up from 4.3% in 2018. More than $1.5 million in investment revenue is projected for the fiscal year. The undesignated surplus is $19.1 million, just above the council's 15% spending-down threshold, so the budget begins spending it down. Enterprise funds are self-sufficient and have zero impact on the tax rate.
- Addressing new challenges, the manager said health-care premiums rose 17.1%, creating a $399,820 gap on the town side and a $470,000 gap on the school side. The school department faced a total $753,834 gap because the preliminary appropriation was $283,834 below its request. The school identified $400,000 in reductions, leaving a net gap of $353,834. The manager proposed revising the remote net-metering agreement to transfer $219,113 in energy savings to the school, plus $134,721 in additional school appropriation, for a total school allocation of $66,156,544, a 3.7% increase. To close the combined town-side gap of $753,656, the manager recommended an estimated, not-to-exceed 2% commercial tax-rate increase to $15.09, while keeping the residential rate at $11.04.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Richard Welch asked where designated cash is kept, said surplus town real estate should be sold so properties can pay taxes, and suggested the council should oversee school surplus spending and ratify all labor agreements. He also mentioned potential environmental legal costs related to Quonset Davisville.
- Ricky Thompson of 194 Plain Road praised the no-tax-increase effort and asked about the Blue Cross Trust Fund, total cash across all funds, whether last year's revaluation was effectively a tax increase, and how remote net metering works. The finance director said total cash across all funds averages between $48 million and $60 million depending on tax collection timing, including bond and ARPA funds. The Blue Cross Trust Fund was depleted in FY2026-2027.
- Pam Panero asked how school-zone speed-camera revenue is budgeted and whether the bond-debt chart used the 35% state reimbursement on the full bond amount. The manager said speed-camera revenue is restricted to public safety and the debt chart used the actual eligible reimbursement rate, not 35% of the entire bond.
- A school committee member, Megan Riley of 15 Eden Court, asked whether the revised net-metering credit for the school would be formalized in an MOU/MOA and whether it would recur annually. The manager said the goal is to formalize it and make the savings recurring.
- Sarah Lee Norton of 58 West Cove Drive recommended holding the school budget as a separate public hearing and requested a detailed salary-and-benefits reconciliation showing starting amounts, budgeted amounts, current head count, year-to-date spending, and substitute commitments.
- Robert Jones of 63 Pheasant Run recommended a joint town-school advisory committee to explore containing health-care costs outside contract negotiations, and noted an outdated meeting-notice sign at Town Hall that could confuse residents.
School Fund Presentation
- The School Committee presented its FY2026-2027 school fund budget. Superintendent Dr. Duva was absent due to a family emergency. Revenue assumptions included state aid contingent on the governor's proposed budget, no reappropriation of fund balance, and other revenue sources including tuition, investment earnings, rental income, and Medicaid indirect costs.
- Expenditure drivers included contractual 2% ESP salary increases, ongoing NEA-K teacher negotiations, a 17.1% health and dental premium increase, moving student Chromebook purchases into the operating budget, and changes in out-of-district tuition and charter school costs. The committee's slide showed a town appropriation request of $66,155,437, described as a 3.7% increase; this conflicts slightly with the town manager's stated total of $66,156,544.
- Committee members praised the collaboration between the town and school administrations in managing the unexpected health-care cost increases.
Key Outcomes
- The hearing was informational; no final budget vote was taken. The council will deliberate and pass the FY2026-2027 budget at its April 27 meeting at the high school.
- The manager recommended a commercial tax-rate increase of no more than 2%, to $15.09, while keeping the residential rate at $11.04, and an additional $134,721 school appropriation funded partly by revised net-metering savings.
- The council president praised the creativity and collaboration shown by the town and school administrations. After no further business, the council adjourned by unanimous voice vote on a motion and second.
Meeting Transcript
Right. Yes. So me and then comment. Good evening. Welcome to the Monday, April 13th, 2026 meeting in the North Kingstown Town Council in the People's House in North Kingstown. Pursuant to an Island General Laws 42, 466 C. Notice of this meeting has been posted on the Secretary of State's website. I ask everyone to uh stand and join with a salute to the flag. Thanks. For which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice. Thank you. Um a couple of things. Tonight, uh what we're going to do is have a uh second presentation on the budget by the town manager. Um then hear from the public. Uh it's an opportunity for the public to speak to the council or let their feelings know. Council really traditionally has not responded. If there is questions. Um be directed at the manager or department head uh or department heads, I should say. Um I believe the school committee has a meeting going on now, and they may be a couple minutes late for their meeting. Um so they said they could would be here by seven fifteen. So I do want to make the public aware of that. Um because this uh uh the time for that was posted previously. We felt we could not change it, so we kept it at seven. And uh so they'll be here a couple minutes late. Anyways, without any further ado, um Mr. Manager, if you could present the missile budget, that'd be great. Thank you, Mr. President. So good evening, and welcome everyone to the next step in our budget process for fiscal year twenty-seven, and that is our public hearing. Uh we'll start off with the municipal portion of the budget. As the council president mentioned, the school department will then present their budget at around 7 p.m. And while I'll be showing a summary of the over 130 million dollar budget, I encourage everyone, whether they're watching or they're here today, to take the time to go on our website and view our very informative and award-winning budget booklet format, as it has a wealth of information that you won't see on the slides this evening. Uh, please note the budget that I will be showing is the preliminary budget that was introduced by me and that was passed by the town council. As you know, there have been some significant challenges and changes since then. So I'll be addressing those challenges and changes at the end of this presentation. Uh but I encourage anyone who took the time to attend this evening to not hesitate to ask any questions. So I say that because every department head is in attendance this evening. And so they're here to answer any specific questions you have may have on their individual budget. I want to thank them for their effort and their dedication and their work this year. Uh their efforts put together individual budgets that not only continued the great services we have here in North Kingstown, but also did so while keeping the impact on the taxpayer in mind. I also want to thank our finance director to Bridgeham and Kate Glass of my office for their outstanding work and putting together an amazing informative and award-winning budget booklet. And I do want to recognize Edley Glass. If you could stand up, and she doesn't have to. But just to let everybody know, uh, that is Hadley's drawing of our 2027 budget booklet. Wow. And for the record, um, I received that after we finished our budget booklet because if I didn't, that would have been our cover. So uh so I'm going to challenge her that next year I'm asking her to put together the FY2028 budget booklet cover because in all sincerity that would have definitely been our cover. So great, great job on that. So, as I mentioned, this is the next step in the lengthy budget process for fiscal year 2027.
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