Coventry Town Council Unanimously Passes $121M Budget for FY25
The Town of Coventry Town Council unanimously passed a $121M budget for fiscal year 2025 on Tuesday night. Set to commence on July 1, 2024, this budget includes $994,987 in capital projects including $613,277 specifically for the school department and $381,710 in other Town departments. These items and projects include purchase of a police vehicle, a dump truck and mini excavator for DPW; additional funding to complete a drainage project on Old North Road, upgrades to the Giblin playground and to the garage facilities at Parks and Recreation; and replacement of some school windows.
“The story of this budget is really the Town Council’s commitment to making a serious investment in the long-neglected infrastructure of our community,” said Dan Parrillo, Coventry Town Manager. “Coventry residents deserve top quality services and facilities that enhance what already makes this such a desirable place to live, work, and raise a family.”
The Town Council also made a large commitment in ARPA funding of $2,685,500 which includes continuing the Pave it Forward paving program with a $1M investment, a new gatehouse for Tiogue Lake, funding for septic waste hauling at the high school, supporting the Town’s new Redevelopment Agency, and the purchase of a dump truck for the Parks and Recreation Department. There were several priorities the Town Council had in order to keep up the momentum when it comes to the Pave it Forward program by including an operational investment of an additional $500K in the DPW budget for paving and $150K for sidewalk repair. They have also committed to begin a strategic investment in the Sanitation department by beginning to fund the purchase of three new sanitation trucks that should arrive in 12-18 months with an initial appropriation this year of $115K.
During the Town Council’s two public hearings on the FY25 budget, many residents including school department administrators, teachers, and students, indicated that they were in support of the Town Council providing additional funding for the school from its initial provisional budget. After much deliberation, consideration, and compromise, the Town Council unanimously amended the provisional budget to increase the Town’s School Department allocation total by $2,183,347 from the FY24 budget or 2.78%.
“This year’s budget process was a great demonstration of just how effective our public hearing offering can be when voters utilize it. I’m really encouraged by those that attended them in person or virtually to participate and let their voice be heard,” said Hillary Lima, Coventry Town Council President. “It certainly wasn’t always easy trying to balance the passionate viewpoints of taxpayers with the needs expressed by town departments, but I want to commend Town administration for being flexible and creative in ensuring a balanced and thoughtful budget was put before the Town Council for consideration.”
The public can learn more about the budget and view the final, adopted FY25 budget on the Town’s website at coventryri.gov.