A special meeting of the Cranston City Council was called to order on April 29, 2026, at 22:56 UTC, to consider the proposed Fiscal Year 2026–2027 budget. The meeting featured extensive public comment and council deliberation, culminating in a unanimous vote to reject the mayor's budget, which included a 7.44% property tax increase. The council also rejected related budget resolutions and tabled two tax-related items, effectively sending the budget back to the administration for revision.
All budget-related items were rejected or tabled, effectively sending the proposed budget back to the mayor's administration for revision. The council expects a revised proposal with a lower tax increase and more sustainable spending.
Good evening. And welcome to this April twenty ninth special city council meeting. At this time, I'd like to call this meeting to order. And I asked the clerk to please call a role. Remember this evening that we'll have public comment on Docketed Matters only. And you'll state your name and address for the record. So by all means, if someone would like to make public comment who's here in the chambers, step up to the podium. State your name and address for the record. My name is Susan Sicosha Olson, and my address is 36 Rondo Street. I'm a lifelong resident of the city of Cranston, and I'm here to express my dismay regarding the proposed cuts to the Cranston Senior Center. I've had many years of experience with the center on both a personal and professional basis. I'm also on the board of the Senior Agenda Coalition of Rhode Island, a nonprofit organization that advocates for older adults and those with disabilities. The Cranston Senior Center has a long and storied history. In June of 1989, First Lady Barbara Bush visited the center as it was recognized as one of the best in the country and a model for many others. The population served by the center are some of our most vulnerable residents of the city of Cranston. Many depend on the center for their physical and mental health, their financial assistance, their social well-being and nutritional needs. For some, their lunch at the meal site may be their only meal of the day. The center also provides a place for seniors to take part in educational and fitness classes. All of these activities can help members to be connected to the community while decreasing their social isolation. Loneliness and depression are severe health public risks, increasing a person's chances of premature death, heart disease, stroke, and dementia. My personal connection to the center is through their adult day program. My mother, who had Alzheimer's disease, attended the program daily. She was well cared for so that my father and other family members were able to go to work knowing that she was safe. The proposed cuts and position eliminations will effectively decimate the center's ability to provide quality services. The elimination of the assistant director will have a profound effect. David Kiora is well known not only in Cranston, but also throughout the state. His reputation, dedication, and ability to coordinate and manage the services of the center are exceptional. I ask that you please reconsider any proposed cuts to provide to preserve the excellent quality, excellent quality of services provided to the residents of Cranston. Thank you very much. Thank you. State your name and address for the record. We don't. Sorry. You couldn't hear me because I turned my microphone up. Those are just your comments so we can read along. Yes. Okay. And I probably won't get every point in here so that they're four minutes. Good evening. My name is Tom Wiljick, Levin Hall Place, Cranston. And uh I'm a member of an organization called Cranston Forward, which uh has well over 500 uh members. And we've been uh meeting and brainstorming about the proposed budget, and we've put together the piece that I have just handed out to you. Um I'd like to take the opportunity to read to you and to the gallery here some of the key points. Cranston Forward is a community-based organization that advocates policies to make Cranston more accessible, inclusive, accountable, open, and transparent city. Cranston Forward strongly condemns the rushed and opaque process surrounding the City of Cranston's fiscal year 26-27 budget proposal. The current approach demonstrates a fundamental disregard for constituent input and responsible governance. It magnifies the incompetence of an administration that has allowed an unprecedented 10 million budget deficit to occur under their watch. With just two days' notice for the city council meeting, the administration is intentionally keeping constituents out of the process and forcing through an agenda with little oversight. The meeting agenda appears to have been sloppily copied from last year's agenda, revealing the rushed, careless way that this administration seeks to pass a highly problematic budget. This rather uh futive action contrast with the transparency of past city administrations that provided Cranstonians with a full calendar of hearings and events.