Johnston Mayor Joseph M. Polisena has requested a 2.74 percent property tax increase, and residents can weigh in on the proposal at a budget hearing on July 6.

It’s the first property tax increase in Johnston since 2017.

“We have not had a tax increase in about four years,” Polisena said Thursday morning. “With the average house at $250,000, the tax bill will go up $70 for the year, or $17.50 per quarter. This is a minimal tax increase.”

A 2021-22 budget request proposes an increase in the town’s total property tax levy to $72,539,514, up from $70,602,969 this year.

Currently, property tax rates are set at $22.89 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for residential real estate, $27.99 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for commercial real estate and $63.99 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for tangible personal property.

The proposal asks for an increase to $23.24 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for residential real estate, $28.34 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for commercial real estate and $64.34 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for tangible personal property.

Polisena said increases in “unavoidable” costs in the school budget are mostly responsible for the needed tax increase.

“I have a responsibility that the school department gets what they need,” he said. “The school had put in a $1,600,000 increase, and we’re going to give them a million.”

Polisena said the school department is facing “rising costs beyond their control.”

The rising costs include an 18.5 percent jump in health care costs and about $3 million to cover students who travel outside of the district for schooling, Polisena said.

“Unfortunately, the Rhode Island Department of Education says students who decide they want to go to other school districts, we have to pay for that, including busing,” he said. “We can no longer level fund them, because I don’t want the school system to collapse. It’s not the school department’s fault.”

Polisena has requested a 2 percent increase in the total town budget expenditures.

The increase in educational funding expenditures, $1,611,927, represents a 3 percent increase.

A property tax rate of $23.58 for residential real estate, $28.67 for commercial real estate and $64.65 for tangible personal property would be needed in the coming budget year to raise the maximum levy, according to the budget proposal.

Other sectors of the town, besides the school department, have also requested budget increases.

The Johnston Fire Department is requesting 6 percent more funding for next year, or an additional $1,190,974.

Polisena said that the pandemic is partially to blame for increasing costs in the Fire Department.

“Don’t forget, with COVID, we had some firefighters who were out, and we had some extra personnel dealing with COVID,” he said. “At one point, we were going out on 12 to 15 COVID calls per day.”

The department is also down seven firefighters, Polisena said, and additional funds are needed to cover overtime to fill those shifts.

“It’s cheaper to pay overtime than it is to hire people,” he said.

Debt service will cost the town 28 percent more next year than it did this year, an increase of $831,908.

The Police Department has requested a 3 percent increase ($529,281), while the Parks & Recreation Department has requested 3 percent more funding ($35,213).

“This is a very lean budget,” Polisena said.

Some departments will be facing budget cuts.

Polisena has requested a decrease in the public services budget by about 12 percent, or $719,356.

The library budget faces the biggest cut, 17 percent, and will have to operate with $130,361 less funding next year, if the budget is approved as proposed.

Polisena said several open positions in the library department will go unfilled.

“I think it was a very lean budget,” the mayor repeated. “Obviously if the school department didn’t have another increase, we would have had no tax increase for the fifth year in a row. But I can’t allow the school department to go belly up.”

The preliminary FY 2021-22 motor vehicle levy includes taxes on motor vehicles at the rate of $30 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, in accordance with Rhode Island general law, which includes the exemption amount provided by the state’s motor vehicle excise tax phase-out legislation up to $5,000.

The town should actually see a 43 percent increase in state aid next year, or about $2,311,065 more revenue from the state.

The FY 2021 and FY 2022 tax levies have excluded motor vehicle excise tax for the purpose of determining tax levy growth. The proposed increase of 2.74 percent falls to 1.26 percent without the exclusion of motor vehicle tax.

A budget hearing will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 6, at Johnston Municipal Court, 1600 Atwood Ave.

REPORT TO TAXPAYERS ON CURRENT AND PROPOSED BUDGET