Raymond J. Cloutier says it’s time to put away politics and for all residents to sacrifice in North Providence.

The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

NORTH PROVIDENCE — After months of discussion about how to pay down a current-year budget deficit of about $10 million, the Town Council has decided to ignore the problem for now to limit a property tax rate hike.

Mayor Charles Lombardi had a plan to address the deficit with a supplementary tax increase this month and long-term borrowing. But he couldn’t get state approval for that. Then, he and other officials talked about raising taxes by 23 percent or more to deal with the deficit as well as other financial challenges, in the budget year that begins July 1.

The prospect of a big tax hike sent tremors through the town. Residents worried about tax bills increasing by hundreds of dollars.

“There’s going to be a taxpayer revolt,” Francis C. Mooney, a retired North Smithfield teacher, said at Town Hall the other day as he paid his $800 fourth-quarter property tax bill installment.

Wednesday night, at a work session on the budget for the new fiscal year, the Town Council decided that a 14 percent tax hike was the limit. That would produce a balanced budget next year but would not provide enough money to deal with the deficit from this budget year.

The council trimmed the mayor’s proposed new budget, then adjourned.

“We have taken care of [the new] budget,” Councilman Frank Manfredi said afterward. “We don’t know what the deficit is. We’ll have to do a lot of work going forward.”

Council President Joseph Burchfield said the town might be able to save money in the next budget year to apply to the deficit through reductions in personnel costs. Maybe the state will change some spending mandates, he said.

Of the current-year deficit, he said: “It’s not being addressed at this moment. It’s going to be addressed as time goes on. We needed to pass the budget immediately so we could get tax revenues to come in.”

The mayor’s response to the council’s position?

“I think it could be a little dangerous because we don’t know how well this is going to sit with the auditor general,” Lombardi said.

“You can’t keep putting that aside and turning a blind eye to it,” he said of the deficit. “I know it’s not popular, but we need to hit the hammer on the head.”

In February, state Auditor General Ernest A. Almonte met with town officials and strongly urged them to resolve the deficit before June 30, warning that the town’s finances would be subject to state takeover if the town’s bond rating moved below investment grade.

On a recent afternoon at Shaw’s Market, Ernest Barone, a former Republican Town Committee chairman, said the town’s Democratic officials need to address the deficit by cutting government services and tightening up on benefits and eliminating pension programs that let some employees retire early.

“We live in the entitlement empire,” Barone said, “but at some point we have to realize people have to work for what they get.”

On his way to deliver a $759 tax payment, another resident, Raymond J. Cloutier, put the focus on cutting government, urging across-the-board sacrifices in every part of the local government.

“We live in a town that has a lot of services,” said the 44-year-old auditing consultant. “We’ve been spoiled for many years.”

Wednesday night, after various disagreements and some quarreling, the council voted to cut spending in each town department in the new budget, saving an estimated $700,000 from what the mayor proposed.

Burchfield later estimated that the new budget will require hiking the residential property tax rate by 13.7 percent — from $16.75 per $1000 of assessed value to $19.05.

That’s $2.30 versus the $3.80 that town officials had discussed over the last few weeks.

Burchfield said municipal financial officials, including the town’s finance director, Maria Vallee, would meet Friday with representatives of Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and with Sen. Frank A. Ciccone III, of North Providence, to discuss town finances.

“I would imagine everything is on the table,” Burchfield said of the fiscal options, including a supplemental tax increase to address the deficit later in the next fiscal year, financial support or “creative ways the Senate can come up with to help out the Town of North Providence.”

Lombardi applauded the council for reaching agreement on a new budget, but he worried about the council’s position on the deficit for this budget year.

“As the days go on, it appears they’re thinking that some type of windfall of cash is going to get dropped on the front steps of Town Hall and this is going to go away. Believe me, I’d love to come in here and find that bag in front of Town Hall.”

His tone was less than hopeful.

mreynold@projo.com