Increased veto authority for the mayor’s office, a new requirement to maintain a minimum balance in the city’s “rainy day” fund and a reduced cap on property tax increases are among the charter amendments being proposed by Mayor Allan Fung and his administration.

“The big ones for me that are a priority are the financial safeguards … [to] protect the financial stability of the city,” said the mayor, who presented the list of proposals during the Charter Review Commission’s meeting at City Hall last week.

He said the list of amendments is based on his own ideas as well as recommendations from municipal department heads.

“We took a thoughtful approach to all the different areas,” he said.

The commission – the current iteration of which was established as part of a 10-year review mandated during the last charter revisions in 2009-10 – had requested comment and proposed amendments from municipal leaders ahead of the meeting. It plans to host additional gatherings in the months ahead to seek additional public feedback.

In terms of the budget, Fung’s proposed amendments would grant the mayor’s office the authority to veto the overall city budget as well as decreases to any specific line item. Presently, veto authority only applies to line-item increases the City Council has approved over the mayor’s initial budget plan.

In a written rationale provided by the administration, it is argued that the increased veto authority would help “avoid any items that have the potential to create structural deficits in future years.”

“It doesn’t make sense that the mayor, as the chief executive and responsible for the day to day operations of the city, has no say on the overall budgetary amendment decisions of the council except for any increases in appropriation,” the written rationale states.

The proposed amendment related to the “rainy day” fund – formally known as the undesignated fund balance – would require the city to maintain a reserve of no less than 5 percent of its operating budget. The charter currently contains no language requiring such a reserve.

Fung said the city currently has an undesignated fund balance totaling approximately 7 percent of its nearly $300 million operating budget. He said ratings agencies look favorably on “rainy day” funds of between 5 and 10 percent of the city’s operating budget.

The proposal related to annual tax increases, meanwhile, would adopt new language limiting the yearly increase in the tax levy to 3 percent. Approval of the mayor and two-thirds of the City Council would been needed to exceed that figure. State law limits any tax levy increase to 4 percent annually.

Fung said the 3 percent figure was based on numbers from his 11 years as mayor, during which he said the average annual increase in the levy has been less than 2 percent.

“I tried use historically what we’ve done in my administration …I wanted to make sure that there’s not these dramatic swings on the taxpayers,” he said.

The administration has also proposed increasing the mayor’s authority to authorize emergency appropriations. Currently, the charter requires a two-thirds vote of the City Council for such funding measures, and the proposed charter amendment would eliminate that language.

“In a post 9/11 era, it is unrealistic in the midst of an emergency to try to assemble the City Council to attain a two-thirds majority to determine if an emergency exists before a limited appropriation is spent,” the administration’s written rationale reads.

Fung specifically cited the city’s experience during the floods of 2010 in making the case for broader authority over emergency expenditures.

“The way the charter reads right now, it doesn’t make sense,” he said.

The Charter Review Commission will review all of the proposed charter changes and make recommendations to the City Council, a process expected to be completed by early spring of 2020. The council will then decide which proposals should be placed on the November ballot for voter approval.

During Monday’s council meeting, Evan Kirshenbaum – who serves as council’s attorney and is a member of the Charter Review Commission – said the commission hopes to hold meetings in community settings around the city as part of its public outreach effort. He also noted that all of the commission’s meetings will include a public comment section.

Council President Michael Farina noted that some of the proposed charter amendments would alter language that has been part of the document since its creation.

“We want to head from the public on some of these changes,” he said.

Other charter amendments proposed by the administration include:

Extending the timeframe during which financial transfers among municipal departments may be made. Currently, such transfers are allowed within the last three months of the fiscal year. The mayor’s proposal would extend that timeframe to include the first three months of the subsequent fiscal year.

Eliminating a requirement that duplicate campaign finance reports be filed with city clerk in addition to the state Board of Elections. The administration suggests the requirement is “obsolete” due to the fact that the reports are mandatory through the state and available online.

Allowing the use of email, rather than standard mail, to notify members of the City Council of scheduled meetings.

Increasing the threshold at which purchases or contracts are subject to competitive bidding from $1,000 to $5,000, and consolidating some purchasing between the city and Cranston Public Schools.

Removing the requirement that the city solicitor be a resident of Cranston.

Changing the newspaper advertising requirement for Comprehensive Plan amendments from twice a week for three successive weeks to once a week for three successive weeks.

Easing the requirements regarding the sale of city property, which the administration said is based on the difficulties experienced in selling the former police headquarters on Atwood Avenue.