New budget raises average residential tax bill by $89 on median home

The Town Council last week approved Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr.’s proposed $137.9-million budget for Fiscal 2026, the financial year that begins July 1 of this year.

The budget – which will maintain all current city services and increase town support of local schools by $500,000 – will result in a tax-rate increase of 32 cents. The 2% rate increase will bring the residential tax rate from $15.30 per $1,000 of assessed value to $15.62.

Overall, the new budget marks an increase of $3.5 million from last year’s budget of about $134.3 million. It necessitates a tax levy increase of about 1.45%, well below the state levy cap of 4%. The levy refers to the amount of money needed in local taxes to support the budget. (Other revenue resources include state and federal aid.)

In an interview before the council meeting, Polisena noted that several cost increases beyond town’s control are key budget drivers. These factors include contractual salary raises for police, fire other municipal employees, he said, as well as increases in essential costs such as utilities.

“Generally, times are tough and things are expensive,” he said. “Cities and towns are not insulated from this.” He said he worked to keep the impact on the tax rate minimal while “maintaining the services taxpayers are accustomed to.”

Polisena said that the median assessed value for a single-family home in Johnston is about $347,000.  Since most residents qualify for the town’s “homestead exemption,” the net impact of the new tax rate for the average homeowner will be about $89, Polisena said.

The homestead exemption provides a 20-percent reduction in the value of a home for tax purposes.  The exemption is available to residents who own their own single-family homes and who occupy them as their primary residence. Residents must apply for the exemption.

More than a dozen Rhode Island cities and towns offer homestead exemptions, including neighboring Providence and Cranston, although the specifics of each vary.

The mayor noted that some senior citizens will see their tax bills go down as the town continues with its three-year implementation of a new senior tax discount that gives homeowners over the age of 65, a reduction in their tax bills. It varies from the town’s prior method of giving seniors a reduction on their properties’ assessed value, not their tax bill.

Polisena explained that under the new plan, instituted by his administration, senior citizens received a flat-rate discount of $800 off their tax bills last year, and it will be $900 this year. The following year, seniors will receive a $1,000 discount, he said.

According to minutes from the council meeting posted on the Secretary of State’s website, the council voted 3 to 1 to approve Polisena’s budget, with District 5 Councilman Robert J. Civetti dissenting.

Civetti had stated that he had an issue with the funding for the School Department and had proposed amending the budget to give the schools a one-time transfer of $3.7 million from the town’s reserve fund, according to the meeting minutes. District 1 Councilwoman Linda Folcarelli was not present.

It’s too soon to know exactly what impact the new town budget will have on the school system. The budget as approved by the council provides $300,000 less in local funding than was requested by the school district but is predicated on the assumption that Johnston schools will receive a $1.3-million increase in state aid in Fiscal 2026.

The state budget has not been finalized by the General Assembly, so the definitive figure is not yet known.

After the council approved the new budget, School Supt. Bernard DiLullo Jr. said that cuts may be necessary. But he credited Polisena’s administration for continuing to work to be fair with the schools. Polisena has provided increases in local funding for education in recent years, DiLullo said, after the district had gone several years in a row without any increase in the town appropriation for schools.

In addition to the annual budget, the town and the School Department must still continue working with the state Auditor General’s Office to come up with a remediation plan to address a cumulative school budget deficit from years past.

Editor’s note: This story was revised on June 6, 2025, to reflect the impact of the homestead exemption.