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.

Roller coaster may continue for NIH-funded program that supports students in the biomedicine or engineering fields
The $510,000 package will fund on-demand transit in five communities, expand commuter vanpool subsidies, and offer free bus passes to visitors, as part of Rhode Island’s climate strategy
Trinity Rep presents the world premiere of a new play by Brown MFA playwright Ro Reddick, directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy
At a packed Westerly hearing, residents, activists, and property owners clashed over whether a historic right-of-way guarantees public access to a pristine stretch of coastline long treated as private
McKee leads slightly over Democratic rivals in 2026 governor’s race but still dogged by low approval ratings