Pawtucket ends FY2012 with surplus

PAWTUCKET ENDED the 2012 fiscal year with a $2.7 million surplus that the city will use to help replenish its reserve fund.  / COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
PAWTUCKET ENDED the 2012 fiscal year with a $2.7 million surplus that the city will use to help replenish its reserve fund. / COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

PAWTUCKET – The city of Pawtucket’s general fund ended fiscal 2012 with a surplus of $2.7 million, according to an annual report from an independent auditor.

A city release attributed the surplus to revenue that exceeded expectations and spending controls that kept the city’s expenditures down.

In a memo to the City Council, Finance Director Joanna L’Heureux said other factors that helped save the city money included: changing to more energy-efficient lighting, adjustments in holiday pay and a light 2012 winter for snow removal.

The $2.7 million surplus has allowed the city to replenish its reserve fund, “which over a period of several years was tapped almost to depletion to help balance annual budgets,” said the release.

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“This is very good news that represents the hard work and sacrifice of a lot of dedicated people. I’m very pleased to see that our tight fiscal controls have reversed a series of annual deficits prior to my administration and that we are finally able to begin restoring our rainy day fund,” Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien said in a statement.

“We are continuing to do more with less, and this independent audit is simply a confirmation of that. We know we have a very long way to go and it’s still a day-by-day process, but the city is now firmly headed in the right direction,” Grebien added.

The schools side of the city’s budget showed an operational deficit of $2.3 million, according to the release. The city said it is “working cooperatively with school officials” in order to help eliminate the deficit.

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