Cranston Forward

05/27/2026

05/13/2026

Cranston Forward's latest statement on the budget crisis:

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05/07/2026

Join the Community Conversation: What We Should Do About THE BUDGET
Thursday May, 7 6pm
William Hall Library Auditorium

Sponsored by Cranston Forward & Edgewood Rising
(Edgewood Rising meeting to immediately follow at Edgewood Congregational Church)

What we know:
The Mayor wants to balance the budget on the backs of ordinary Cranstonians—including the most vulnerable—with a 7.4% tax increase and big cuts to Head Start and senior services.

What we are thinking about:
Where’s the time for community involvement, with only a 2 day notice to pass amendments and a budget in one night and no calendar for hearings and amendments as in previous years?
Where’s the audit to explain how in just two years Cranston drained its reserves and developed a $10M structural deficit?
Where is the accountability?
We Expect Competence, Transparency and Accountability.

05/01/2026

9-0. The Cranston City Council unanimously rejected Mayor Hopkins' budget last night. Here's an explainer of what happened — and what comes next. 👇

The Mayor proposed raising the property tax levy by 7.4%. State law caps it at 4%. The Council had no legal choice but to reject it.

Now he has 15 days to come back with a legal budget — which means real cuts to what he originally proposed. The deadline is May 15.

Before the vote, the administration tried to call this a "shared failure." It isn't, and we explain why in the slides.

The next two weeks really matter. The cuts being decided right now will hit schools, senior services, parks, sanitation, and all city services. We want our city to protect what matters and cut the political patronage that doesn't, while making cuts equitably.

Cranston deserves better. Swipe through, and please share — neighbors knowing what's actually going on is how we start to do something about it.

04/24/2026

Imagine you are the Mayor of the 2nd largest city in RI, and after submitting a catastrophic budget with massive tax increases, you leave for a golf trip to Florida and South Carolina for a week, and upon return your first reply to anything is this.

He scapegoats our teachers and students, and says they need to take a cut now, and that's in fact what we the residents of Cranston should be advocating for.

This is the not the behavior of a mature adult. A leader ready to get us out of this crisis.

This is quite literally the Mayor lashing out at the people he is elected to represent.

Also point of fact, he is already effectively cutting the schools in his initial budget proposal.

WPRI 12 Cranston Herald

04/19/2026

Mayor Ken Hopkins has proposed raising residential and commercial property tax rates by 8% in his FY27 budget, with a 7.4% increase to the total tax levy. That's nearly DOUBLE the 4% annual maximum set by RI state law — and would lock in $14.4 million in new permanent spending, forever.

What makes this ask extraordinary isn't just the size. It's the timing.

Just weeks ago, the administration announced a $10 MILLION deficit for the CURRENT fiscal year. The city's rainy-day reserves have dropped from $14.5 million to $6.2 million, well below the minimal prudent reserves for a city of Cranston’s size. The RI Auditor General publicly flagged Cranston's financial outlook as "highly concerning." The Mayor had to delay his budget rollout by two weeks because the numbers weren't ready. The former finance director had to be un-retired to help clean up the books.

And now —in the middle of a self-inflicted financial crisis — our mayor wants to lock in an unprecedented, permanent revenue increase.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹:
Do not let the Mayor ram through this budget without careful due diligence. There may not be time before the budget deadline to find all the waste. Get the low-hanging fruit now. And approve a permanent tax increase to fund it at no more than 4%, the maximum allowable increase without a waiver from the state. Any remaining spending should be should be met with a ONE-TIME supplemental assessment that sunsets at the end of FY27. That way the city gets every dollar it says it needs — without saddling Cranston tax-payers with a permanent tax increase until the Mayor has fully met his burden of justifying it.

Let the mayor come back in a year and and show the public improved management, oversight, and transparency.

Cranston residents are represented by one ward councilor and three citywide councilors. Call and email ALL FOUR. Ask them to cap the permanent levy at no more than 4%.

Full contact info, a one-minute call script, and more at cranstonforward.org/noblankcheck

The Council votes by May 15. Share this post. Tag a neighbor. Show up.

04/18/2026