WEST WARWICK, R.I. -- With the town facing a $1.1-million deficit next year that could grow nearly tenfold by 2016, Town Manager Michael L. Stampfler presented a sweeping plan last week to balance the budget by cutting costs and raising taxes to the maximum allowed under state law.
On Tuesday, at its first meeting since Stampfler's presentation, the Town Council questioned parts of the proposal, with the majority speaking out against anything more than a small tax increase and two members objecting to lifting minimum manning requirements aimed at reducing overtime payments in the fire and police departments.
A skeptical Stampfler, who has been on the job only three months, asked how the town could otherwise turn its finances around, without the "meat and potatoes" in his plan.
"The community is nearly broke," he said bluntly.
The meeting before about 150 people in the high school auditorium was the first time council members had commented publicly on Stampfler's plan.