NORTH PROVIDENCE — The Town Council approved a 17 percent property tax hike Tuesday night after officials held a final hearing on their spending plan for the fiscal year that began on Wednesday.

The council voted to hike the residential property tax rate from $16.75 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $19.65. The 6-to-1 vote followed more than three hours of public discussion, including numerous pointed exchanges between pensive council members and irate taxpayers.

“Shame on you,” a woman yelled from the rear of the high school auditorium after the council approved the tax increase.

The same motion also called for the restoration of overtime spending for firefighters and police officers and the allocation of $900,000 toward the elimination of a deficit projected at about $10 million.

Officials expect that the town will qualify for exemptions to the state limit on property tax increases due to the elimination of state aid by the General Assembly.

The wording of the motion did not establish a firm spending plan for the next fiscal year. In advance of the session, the council had advertised a proposal to add $3.05 to the tax rate and spend $81.2 million in the fiscal year that started Wednesday.

The lone dissenter was Councilman Paul Caranci, who had outlined a detailed plan to cut proposed spending by more than $1.8 million and increase revenues by more than $1.9 million.

Afterward, Mayor Charles A. Lombardi said he would sign the tax increase and budget plan, emphasizing that the town cannot wait any longer to adopt a budget, and trigger the flows of tax revenue that are needed to address a cash-flow problem.

That cash-flow issue is the symptom of a $10-million projected deficit that officials had hoped to address in the fiscal year that ended Tuesday.

Now, they have decided to carry the deficit into the new fiscal year.

The councilmen say they are committed to finding innovative ways to cut the deficit in the coming months.

Council President Joseph Burchfield suggested that new contract negotiations with police, firefighters and teachers could generate savings.

Another deficit elimination idea involved the possibility of yet another tax hike –– a supplemental increase –– that would take place after the General Assembly convenes early next year.

Those and other ideas for deficit elimination did little to relieve concerned taxpayers who took to the podium during the public hearing before the vote.

Margaret Boger said she worries about the $1 million interest that the town is paying on bonds and debt service.

“It seems to me that you really have to take that monster by the neck,” she said.

William Floriani, echoing the sentiments of some school officials, took issue with the council’s decision to approve no increases in the education appropriation for the 2009-2010 school year.

The committee had requested $31.9 million, but it will receive $30.4 million — the same amount as in the last fiscal year — under the council’s level funding vote Tuesday, according to Linda Celona, the School Department business manager.

Said another resident, Shane Piche: “You can keep raising [taxes] all you want. But that’s not the answer. The answer is somewhere else.”

The comment drew robust applause.

mreynold@projo.com