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Thanks for the kind compliments, WwkVoter.

One thing you may recall is that the city council approved $3 million specifically for the teachers contract last year, then held it back until the negotiations concluded. You may remember that they didn't approve the payment to the school department until after their December meeting -- and then blamed the superintendent for the delay.

You may also remember that the union and its supporters protested the school committee over the delay -- not the city council, which had every opportunity and the ability to release the funds at any point after the contract resolution was announced.

So, the higher FY19 school budget request, the majority of which is represented in the $4.5 million teacher salary and benefits increase, should not have been a surprise to the city council, nor should they be acting as if they're the more responsible group between the two.

As you rightly suggest, taxes are going to go up because of this situation. My point, all along, has been that the city council could have avoided it back in FY18 by passing the small tax increase that Mayor Avedisian proposed, which would have raised new revenue.

This is a good explanation of that -- go to the "Pocketbook issues" section: https://warwickpost.com/warwick-mayoral-matchup-handicapping-the-solomon-stenhouse-race/

Here's the relevant section:

"It’s also worth noting that the Solomon-led council passed the FY18 budget without a tax rate hike instead of Avedisian’s proposed 46-cent-per-$1,000 tax increase that would have raised an estimated $7.1 million."

I'm sure you see the problem here -- the council had a chance to raise $7.1 million in the FY18 budget, rejected it, and then approved two budgets with a total deficit of $8 million.

(That article also brings up the question of the city's accumulated surplus, which Solomon has hinted is now below $20 million from the $23.7 million Avedisian said was there in October, 2017. As I've said before, I believe the two deficit budgets are the reason for that.)

If the city council expects the school committee to budget in what they think is a more responsible way, I say the council should lead by example.