Providence Mayor Smiley Threatens Budget Cuts

The city is waiting on a Superior Court judgment that could require it to kick in additional millions in school funding

Mayor Brett Smiley warned the city could significant budget cuts if forced to pour millions into school funding.
Mayor Brett Smiley warned the city could significant budget cuts if forced to pour millions into school funding.
Nina Sparling / The Public’s Radio
Share
Mayor Brett Smiley warned the city could significant budget cuts if forced to pour millions into school funding.
Mayor Brett Smiley warned the city could significant budget cuts if forced to pour millions into school funding.
Nina Sparling / The Public’s Radio
Providence Mayor Smiley Threatens Budget Cuts
Copy

Libraries. Parks. Summer programming for kids. The latest phase of the legal battle between city and state over funding the Providence School Department could mean significant reductions in these and other essential city services, Mayor Brett Smiley announced at a press conference on Tuesday.

“We’re going to have no choice but to have harmful, harmful cuts,” Smiley said. “(They) are going to impact the very same children and families that the school department says that they’re trying to help.”

City employees could face a furlough, Smiley said. New hires and discretionary spending are already on pause. Tax increases are on the table, Smiley warned.

This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.

Gov. McKee is trying to make lemonade with the lemons of the Washington Bridge saga, but polling shows how voters remain unimpressed at this point in time.
From folk music on a Warren farm to short films in Newport, a Bavarian-style Oktoberfest in Providence, and a thought-provoking screening at the RISD Museum, Rhode Island is packed with ways to celebrate art, food, and community this first weekend of October
The longtime prosecutor said he will take time to consider his future
R.I. federal judge grants request for more time but maintains authority to oversee case apart from D.C.
New RICAS results show Rhode Island students making modest gains in math and English, narrowing the gap with Massachusetts, though proficiency rates still trail neighboring states and pre-pandemic levels