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.

Looking for a quick treat that feels gourmet but requires almost no effort? Enter: maple-candied pecans. They’re crunchy, cinnamon-kissed, and dangerously munchable — perfect for topping salads, gifting to friends, or eating by the handful while you “wait for them to cool.”
The US only recycles about a third of the glass it produces. How do we get those numbers up?
Gillette Stadium — rebranded ‘Boston Stadium’ for the tournament — will host multiple marquee matches just 25 miles from Providence, as Rhode Island eyes a potential team basecamp at Bryant University
While she’s optimistic about the future of Rhode Island schools, Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green says she’s concerned about potential ICE raids in schools and the impacts of declining enrollment
Can Rhode Island Republicans win back the governor’s office? And a top Providence chef’s lament about the need for more downtown vitality
The Atlanta-based Centurion Foundation said it is hoping to complete its financing in mid-January for a deal to buy Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital