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.

The number of Rhode Islanders seeking assistance from the Food Bank has increased by 13,000 in the last seven months. CEO Melissa Cherney says rising costs, SNAP changes and fewer donations are stretching resources thin
Plus: storytelling from The Moth, Italian guitar in South County, “Yo Soy Minerva” at Teatro ECAS, and more
A settlement paid by Barletta Heavy Division, Inc. for using contaminated fill while constructing Rhode Island’s Route 6/10 Connector project will fund pediatric dental clinics that serve low-income families.
For the Blackstone Valley Schools co-op, this season has been about grief, support and staying together — on and off the ice
Plastic products cost us, even after we’re done with them — That’s because municipal recycling is paid with taxpayer money. But could the companies that made these products be responsible for paying for them?