When the town of Tiverton, Rhode Island, voted narrowly to support a Twin Rivers World Holdings casino in the town, the city’s officials were warned not to put casino money into the regular budget.
They were advised to keep the money in a separate account and not assume it would always be there. So, when the pandemic happened this year, Tiverton suddenly found itself in a serious bind.
Last week Tiverton’s Budget Committee began looking for ways to reduce the budget by $3.4 million to make up for the losses from the Tiverton casino.
So far, after many hours of meetings, the committee has recommended cutting the school budget by $600,000, removing all capital expenses, except those that are contracted and removing $500,000 in road paving expenditures, among others.
This year’s budget expected $3.1 million that didn’t materialize. Instead it received $1.3 million.
The town will also seek a waiver from the state to cut the library budget. The city had relied on the state to make up its losses from the casino, pointing out that Rhode Island had promised to make good payments from the casino below a certain level. However, the state informed the town that it didn’t mean it would pay the difference if the casino shut down.
Town Council President Patricia Hilton bewailed the situation last week at a council meeting: “It’s a rotten, terrible situation we find ourselves in. The loss of casino revenue is a pretty devastating thing.”
The council is getting pushback on some recommendations, such as cutting school funding, and eliminating two vacant police jobs.
Town Administrator Christopher Cotta commented, “We’re trying to preserve as many jobs as we can, but that too is on the table.”
The casino has reopened at partial capacity, so the town is looking at deep cuts in the upcoming budget. At least until it sees how much the casino actually pays it in upcoming months.
The council plans to hold a hearing August 5 on a proposed ordinance that would limit casino money to capital, debt service and infrastructure. Such an ordinance was proposed in 2018 but failed by 13 votes.
