By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — In an acknowledgment of the tough financial times that are facing both the city and the state, the City Council has voted down $1.6 million in vehicle and equipment requests from the Police and Fire Departments, the Department of Public Works, Parks and Recreation, and the Planning Department.

Although the money would have come out of the upcoming year’s budget and not the current one, the city’s Finance Committee had recommended turning down the request in light of the bleak economic outlook.
City leaders are presently grappling with an almost $800,000 deficit on the city operations side and $2.8 million on the school side. It was also recently announced that Gov. Donald Carcieri is proposing to cut state aid even further to cities and towns, in light of the state’s considerable budget deficit.
Additionally, the city’s bond rating was recently lowered a notch by the Fitch investment service, which will likely mean a higher cost on future borrowing.
The requests for new vehicles and equipment were part of an annual replacement cycle that the city has been trying to follow.
Among the list of items submitted by department heads included 13 police vehicles, a new fire pumper truck, a shuttle bus for senior citizens, two new trash trucks, a dump truck and flatbed truck for the highway department and a box truck and new turf mowers for Parks and Recreation.
The funding would have been been achieved through a two-year master lease/purchase program with Sun Trust Leasing Corp. The borrowing of the $1.6 million would have meant an additional $340,000 in principal and interest payments to the city’s operating budget, according to Finance Director Ronald Wunschel.
Councilman John Barry, also chairman of the Finance Committee, said that, in light of the current fiscal situation, the only way the requests could be financed is through a property tax increase--something the committee and the city council is trying to avoid. He said that to fund all of the requests through the debt service would require an increase of approximately six cents per $1,000 of valuation for the city’s property owners.
At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Barry acknowledged that the Finance Committee had met with the department heads to discuss the matter and said that all were cooperative about postponing the purchases. He said both the police and fire chiefs did, however, express concerns about the need to replace aging vehicles. The fire chief, he said, was particularly concerned about an aging pumper truck, which is likely to require maintenance.
“All of them would have liked getting this equipment, but they acknowledged the very significant strain this would put on the budget. They’ve agreed to hold off until better days,” said Barry.
Councilor Thomas Hodge commented, “This is just the beginning, folks. This is the first of many difficult decisions the council will be making.”
Councilor David Moran agreed, saying that “tough decisions lie ahead.” He noted that the Finance Committee will soon be heading into discussions with school officials to discuss the $2.8 million budget deficit.
City Council President Mary Bray, who had attended the Finance Committee meeting, commented that “It made you proud” to see how the department heads worked together when confronted with the fiscal crunch. “We really congratulate them for their efforts,” she stated.
In other matters, the council approved a five-year license agreement between the city and Lamar Corporation allowing for two billboards in the city’s right-of-way at 340 Cottage St.
The council also approved a resolution congratulating the Darlington Braves for winning both the Rhode Island-Southeastern Massachusetts Super Bowl and the New England Championships title game. The council recognized the members of the team as well as the coaches prior tot he start of the council meeting.