WARWICK, RI — Warwick City Council is meeting tomorrow night to review the town’s finances, hear the school board’s new plan to replace the two grammar schools, discuss an OPEB plan and council ward changes.
The 7pm event will be viewable remotely (see below for more information on accessing the streaming stream) as well as in person, although this requires risking exposure to the highly transmissible variant. from Omicron, as the state’s percentage positive rate is the highest since the pandemic began.
City Council Agenda Highlights
Finances, Schools The evening begins with a presentation by Peder Schaefer, the city’s finance director, who will present the mid-year financial report on the city’s finances.
The Warwick School Board will also present its new plan for replacing the two secondary schools in Warwick. During its last meeting, the committee moved from the rehabilitation of the buildings to their complete replacement. The change was partly due to the refusal of the RI Department of Education to support a plan to modernize the current buildings.
OBEB Trust Long discussed, recommended but never committed, an Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) Trust would provide a way to move from the city’s current pay-as-you-go method of funding OPEB debt, $352 million in 2019, to to payment down.
With such a trust established, regardless of funding, the city would be entitled to a reduced rate to use in calculating its liability, Hoyle said in 2019.
“The liability would be less due to the discount rate,” he said.
The city could also eventually start using the trust, which would grow through investments, to help pay for OPEB costs.
Further reading on OPEB and past attempts to establish a trust is available for your reading pleasure:
Warwick OPEB costs: fluids with an investment chance, contract fixes
City councilors protest timing of budget vote, OPEB Fund
Census and council wards If you didn’t respond to the US Census in 2020, you missed a chance to be counted among those living in your city council ward. With these numbers now counted, services will change.
Warwick City Council will discuss allowing Warwick City Council Speaker Steve McAllister to appoint three members of City Council to serve on a committee to redistribute wards based on the most recent US Census figures.
How to watch, join the meeting
You can join or join the meeting using the Zoom app on a smart device or on a PC via the web at zoom.us and clicking JOIN A MEETING at the top right of the page. Webinar ID: 884 4893 4412
Please click on the link below to join the webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88448934412
Or One tap mobile:
USA: +16465588656, 88448934412# or +13017158592, 88448934412#
Anyone wishing to participate by telephone only, can call one of the following numbers:
Toll-Free Numbers: (Although most mobile carriers do not charge customers additional fees for chargeable calls, it is up to you to check with your carrier for potential charges you may be responsible for.)
USA: 1 646 558 8656 USA: 1 301 715 8592 USA: 1 312 626 6799 USA: 1 669 900 9128 USA: 1 253 215 8782 USA: 1 346 248 7799
Toll-free numbers from anywhere in the United States:
USA: 1 877 853 5247 (toll free) USA: 1 888 788 0099 (toll free) USA: 1 833 548 0276 (toll free) USA: 1 833 548 0282 (toll free)
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