The Providence City Council today delivered letters to the Rhode Island General Assembly, urging legislators to restore $55 million in state revenue for cities and towns for the fiscal year 2010 budget.

All members of the Council signed onto the letter which pointed out that, “For nearly two decades, Rhode Island cities and towns have received a portion of income and sales tax revenue from the state,” but that under the 2010 proposed budget, general revenue sharing would be completely eliminated. For Providence, the reduction of revenue in the 2009 supplemental budget, and the elimination of the revenue in the proposed 2010 budget, means a total revenue loss of over $13 million.

In their letter, Council members said that while the Assembly’s proposed budget avoids tax increases, “the elimination of revenue sharing will certainly result in an increase in taxes—property taxes—in most cities and towns across the state.” They also wrote that, “We cannot solve the state’s fiscal crisis on the backs of our property owners. With an unemployment rate skyrocketing over 12%, homeowners and small business owners cannot sustain the burden of property taxes increased to the maximum cap. Yet in Providence, without revenue sharing from the state, this is exactly what property owners will face.”

Council members called on state legislators to work with cities and towns as partners. “As every business, every property owner, every government agency, and every nonprofit in Rhode Island knows, our economy is the worst it has been in a generation.” The Council letter noted that, “If we are ‘all in this together,’ we all must work together

to survive and thrive. Should the General Assembly adopt a budget eliminating revenue sharing, cities and towns will be hamstrung, unable to balance their budgets through any other means than increasing property taxes.”

The Council says that it has been working diligently to achieve significant savings in the City budget, and warned in the letter that, “The General Assembly, by continuing to cut state aid, and by limiting revenue sources, will have played a detrimental role in our efforts to protect taxpayers.”

The Rhode Island House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the budget on Wednesday.