Peter S. Mancini, president of the Providence City Council, has represented Ward 14 for 18 years. The ward includes the Elmhurst and Wanskuck neighborhoods and part of Mount Pleasant. He is also chairman of the Committee on Claims and Pending Suits, serves on the Committee on Finance and is a member of the Board of Park Commissioners. He has previously served on the Committee on City Property, Providence Civic Center Authority, Providence City Plan Commission and the Water Supply Board. He spoke recently with Providence Business News about the budget, development, tax-exempt land, and the new superintendent of Providence’s public school system.
PBN: Mayor David N. Cicilline has proposed a 3.75-percent increase in the tax levy. How do you think this will affect attempts to attract people to live in the city?
MANCINI: The Finance Committee is in budget deliberations, and they are trying to cut costs. No one likes to raise taxes, especially when property taxes are already too high, but it’s our only real source of revenue. People do not appreciate that very much. After deliberations we’ll have to explain the benefits. We’ve tried a lot of different things. We’ve been asking police and firemen to cut back on overtime, but people are asking to see more police officers, so we just added 15 more officers, but that all costs money.
PBN: What do you think the city’s biggest budget problems will be in the future?
MANCINI: Every year since I’ve been on the council our biggest problem has been the school department. Every year it seems to increase so much, between federal mandates and the types of students we have. We have a lot of special needs students, and it costs more to educate them, so we really appreciate that $3.7 million we were just awarded. Statewide, we’re still looking at a better formula for state education. There’s been some movement this year, but with the budget deficit, we weren’t able to do that much. This year and next year we’ll be able to come up with a better formula and Providence and the special needs [students] we have will benefit from that.
PBN: This time last year, the City Council authorized the hiring of outside counsel for potential legal action against the state in response to its level of funding of Providence public schools. Has funding improved since then?
MANCINI: We hired an attorney to do some background work for us. They haven’t given us a final report yet. It’s on the back burner right now. Hopefully, maybe in September, we can look at it again. The General Assembly just awarded us that $3.7 in additional funding for Providence schools, so I think we made our point. There is a need in Providence for money for education. We need to identify a formula so each town knows what they’re going to be getting. It’s difficult to do a budget when you don’t know what you’re getting from the state.
PBN: It seems there are a lot of new condos being built, while existing ones are struggling to be filled. Do think building these is necessary?
MANCINI: I think one of the problems is that they are looking to rent the condos rather than sell them. All the mortgage foreclosures are affecting it too. It’s a cycle. In a year and half, two years, we’ll see a recovery and that will trickle down to the city. It is going to affect the condo sales.
PBN: What should the [city] do to avoid having empty towers all over town?
MANCINI: I would assume the developers, had they done a cost analysis, didn’t realize two to three years ago the foreclosure problem. If you drive through the city you see more and more houses going up for foreclosure. From what I understand many of them are looking to rent, maybe with an option to buy. I assume the mayor’s office would try to help them, I really don’t know exactly what we can do.
PBN: What development do you see happening in the city down the road?
MANCINI: There’s not much land left in the city. There are a couple hotels going up, the Blue Cross building is going up. I would like to see the city moving towards assisting the neighborhoods. The mayor applied for a $10 million loan so he can have these foreclosed properties fixed up and back on tax roles by having people move into them. … The mayor [recently] did counseling for people who are having problems paying their mortgage. It’s a national problem. It’s … scary when you really look at it.
PBN: Where do you stand on the use of the working waterfront?
MANCINI: I’ve been to a couple of the meetings they’ve had. You listen to both sides, and I’m leaning towards a mixed use. Commercial, open space, it’s an issue that has a lot more work. I think there is such potential for that area. It’s something that will be there for years and years to come so we have to make sure we do it the right way.
PBN: Do you think that the City of Providence should be receiving more money from organizations on tax-exempt land?
MANCINI: Absolutely. We’re almost at 50 percent tax-exempt real estate in the city. Between that and the Homestead exemption, it’s really a burden. Since Mayor Cicilline came in, he’s had colleges and universities pay a little bit, but we definitely have to get the colleges to not be exempt from tax. They have to pay a fair share. They receive the services of police, fire and snow removal. They do contribute a lot, but the sales tax goes to the state; the city doesn’t get it. Whoever buys property downtown, that property is then taken off tax roles. It’s a big burden.
PBN: Do you think there are any viable alternatives?
MANCINI: There’s been talk about a public-safety fee, [and a] dorm tax, but we need enabling legislation from the state. So far, they haven’t been too anxious to do that. It’s something we’re really going to have to look at in the coming years. They’re wonderful to have in the city. Hopefully we’re going to work together to solve this. We went down to Boston and got some ideas from Cambridge. The property tax payers need some help.
PBN: What are your thoughts on the new superintendent?
MANCINI: I met him for about 10 minutes when it was first announced. The mayor invited everyone to his house on July 24 to meet him. He has a good resume. Providence is a difficult district with a lot of special needs that he is aware of and hopefully is going to be able to come into. I really haven’t sat down with him yet, as far as what he plans on doing, but the City Council will be very involved with him.
PBN: What’s the latest news on the proposal to add new seats to the City Council?
MANCINI: We met [recently] and decided to have a public hearing on having 15 members total, 3 of those will be at large seats. Both sides [were expected to] discuss it July 21st at City Hall in council chambers. I haven’t been convinced yet that there should be a change. Several years ago, a commission looked into that, one of the recommendations was 10 council members and five at large seats. A compromise might be 12 and 3. It will go on ballot in November. •
