The Special Finance Committee of the Cranston City Council held a budget hearing on Saturday, April 18, 2026, from 9:05 AM to 1:44 PM, to review the proposed FY2027 budget. The city faces a significant fiscal challenge with a proposed tax increase (estimated at 7.4%) that requires a 7/9 council vote and state legislation to exceed the 3% cap. Department heads presented budgets reflecting increased costs, underfunding in prior years, and staffing reorganizations. Council members expressed concerns about sustainability and sought potential cuts, while pledging to protect essential services.
Uh thanks everybody for coming today. Um I'd like to call the special finance committee budget hearing to order Saturday, April 18th at nine oh five. My apologies for being five minutes late. Um clerk, please take the roll. Councilwoman Graziano, Council Ritz. Present. Council Trafficante. Present. Councilwoman Vizier. Council Vice President Heroyan. Council Anduhar. Present. I am here. Okay. All right, I guess we have a quorum. Um so as the president said in in the council meeting, I think on Thursday, there will be public speaking at the end. So if uh anybody online or in the audience would like to stay till the end, we'll have the opportunity to speak. Um before we begin, I would like to let our auditor say a few words. The budget that's presented to us right now is not been adopted for the percentage of the increase. We have to be aware that anything you see, calculation making potential suggestions made may not go through. So do that and put them aside because we still need approval from the either the General Assembly, uh the municipality, uh league, and the council. So everything you see, the questions you ask based on the current budget. This budget may have to go back to the administration, and substantial changes may have to be made. So just keep that in consideration in your focus on what what we are asking questions based on what's been presented. Thank you. At this time, if there's no objection, I'd like to take the Mr. President. Listen, I just want to I I I didn't want to overstep my bounds, uh, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Uh, but I did ask the people who were here this evening tonight, and you you know, it is your prerogative what order they go in. I did ask them, so you have an idea to s just have their name written in the department they represent, um, written on a sign-up sheet. Just to know who's here. It could help you. It's yeah, you take it in whichever order as chair you like. Um but i the other thing is uh in the I'll ask uh say something else, just a programming thing. In the past, many times we have taken on these long days public comment in sever several intervals. Meaning if you took a certain amount of department, five or six set uh ten departments, whatever it was, then you would have public comment on those departments going forward at you know, in interval period in intervals. I just wanted I don't know if that's how you want to do it, or you want to wait ex all the way to the end. Yes. Which would be probably about three, four o'clock, I figure. Two PM or earlier. Let's see. All right. So if there's no objection, thank you, Mr. President. Um, I would like to take the order the meeting out of order. No objection. All right, let's begin. Let's start with Parks of Recreation.