Rhode Island Appoints State Receiver for City

Rhode Island on Friday appointed a state receiver to oversee the finances of the insolvent city of Central Falls.

Gov. Donald Carcieri and Rosemary Booth Gallogly, acting director of the Department of Revenue, chose retired Superior Court Associate Justice Mark Pfeiffer to take over from the court appointed temporary receiver, Jonathan Savage.

The city went into judicial receivership in May after it projected a $3 million shortfall in its nearly $18 million fiscal 2010 budget, along with a $5 million budget gap for fiscal 2011. That prompted legislators to enact a law that prevents municipalities from going into receivership on their own and sets up a system for state intervention in fiscally distressed cities and towns.

Pfeiffer plans to meet with municipal officials and employees Monday to discuss the transition from judicial receivership to state receivership. Pfeiffer will lead a team to oversee the city’s financial and operational functions. The team plans to maintain an office for “the foreseeable future,” according to a press release.

Pfeiffer served as a Rhode Island Superior Court judge from 1988 until last year. He also worked in government and in the banking sector.

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Rhode Island
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