NEW: Chafee, Flanders Unveil Fiscal Plan For Central Falls
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Governor Chafee and Central Falls Receiver Judge Robert G. Flanders, Jr. today rolled out a five year financial plan that will balance the cash-strapped city’s budget every year beginning in the 2013 fiscal year.
Chafee said the proposed plan will help get the city back on track.
“Six weeks ago, I stood here with Judge Flanders and his team and announced that the financial situation in Central Falls had become so dire that the best course of action would be to begin bankruptcy proceedings,” Chafee said. “That was not an easy choice, but one that was necessary. Today, Judge Flanders will announce a proposed course of action that will put Central Falls on the path to becoming a community that can once again meet its obligations, provide necessary services for its residents and embark on reinvigorating its economy.”
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“The plan of recovery, if approved by the bankruptcy court and if properly implemented, can achieve what many thought was impossible: returning Central Falls to fiscal viability with a balanced budget sustainable into the foreseeable future,” Judge Flanders said.
The plan, if adopted, would provide for a balanced budget in Central Falls in every year beginning in FY2013. It is the product of extensive work and collaboration with interested parties and is a working document with a certain degree of flexibility.
The plan is designed to ensure that Central Falls can live within its means over the next five years by increasing its efficiency and fiscal viability while maintaining fairness and equity. The plan includes reductions in costs and expenditures through: previously announced health care and pension benefit changes, as implemented on August 1 and September 1, respectively; pursuing shared regional services; minimal additional layoffs and elimination of positions; restructuring and consolidation of certain city departments and services; and ongoing negotiations with unions and retirees.
