EAST PROVIDENCE — There was a lot of huffing and puffing, but the house never went down...In fact, it didn't change very much after all. At its meeting Tuesday night, Oct. 17, the East Providence City Council gave its second and final approval to the Fiscal Year 2023-24 operating budget.

In the end, after some minor alterations done mostly to the Capital Improvements section, the Council approved an appropriation of $218,914,964 to run the city and schools over the next fiscal calendar beginning on November 1.

The body trimmed $311,647 from the initial $219-plus million submission of Mayor Bob DaSilva, earmarking it all into a line item to pay down the debt service on the construction projects at Martin Middle School and Waddington Elementary School.

The School Department is in the early stages of a near complete redevelopment of MMS and significant upgrades to Waddington.

A $140 million bond funding school improvements was approved by voters at the November 2022 off-year election. The department is expected to be reimbursed for the upgrades by the state through the Rhode Island Department of Education at a significant rate, much the same as it did with the construction of the new high school.

The FY23-24 budget is increasing at approximately $7.2 million year over year, leading the administration to raise the overall amount levied at the maximum 3.5 percent allowed by state law.

The levy increase translates into a 2.93 percent increase in property taxes — residential, commercial, tangible — means the total amount of taxes to be collected next year will be $115,728,713. The total collected for the current fiscal year ending on October 31 is $111,815,182.

Early in the budget process, city side Finance Director Malcolm Moore estimated those who own single-family homes — now with an average value of some $320,000 — will see a likely increase per homeowner upon receiving their tax bills next June of the aforementioned 2.93 percent or $138.39.

On the Capital side, the Council finalized a handful of reappropriations aimed mostly at taking funding from city expenditures to the School Department. After first taking away from the city side, the body returned an earmark of $90,000 there for the purchase of a plow truck while rescinding the same amount previously set aside for schools for a front-loading truck and a mail courier van.

In addition, the Council added back $25,000 for an equipment trailer for DPW, leaving $3,000 unencumbered.

The Capital allocations for the following school projects will remain under the Council's purview until a bill is submitted by the district: Riverside Middle School cafeteria/gym divider, $35,000; Francis Elementary HVAC, $130,000; and Orlo Elementary Playground Fence, $52,000.