This article was originally published in Rhode Island Current.
The city of Providence has halted all discretionary spending and imposed a hiring freeze to comply with a court mandate to fund the city’s public schools — with the possibility of cuts to municipal services and even an increase in property taxes, Mayor Brett Smiley told reporters in his speech. office Tuesday.
The warning of difficult choices ahead comes three days after a Providence Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), which is withholding millions in state aid to Providence until the city secures local dollars has appropriated to fund its public schools. which have been under state control for the past five years.
“The court’s decision jeopardized the city’s finances,” Smiley said. “And we will have to make very difficult decisions in the coming days.”
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That could include cuts to all community library grant programs, housing assistance and park programs. Smiley said his office would also consider scaling back police patrols at PVDFest and other holidays.
“That will all have to stop,” he said.
Judge Jeffrey A. Lanphear of the Rhode Island Supreme Court on Friday upheld a request from Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green for State Treasurer James Diossa to withhold $8.5 million in state car tax payments from the city, alleging that Providence owes nearly $30 million was to the district under the law. state statute that authorized RIDE’s acquisition of the Providence Public School Department in 2019.
A decision on how much the city should pay was originally scheduled for Wednesday morning, but was postponed until Nov. 20. The City Council Finance Committee would meet to reallocate $1.5 million in federal COVID relief funds to help cover school budget shortfalls. meeting on Tuesday, but postponed that part of the agenda to Monday, November 18.
Michelle Moreno Silva, spokesperson for Diossa’s office, declined to comment on the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“Our role here is very minimal,” she said in a telephone interview. “We just hold the money.”
Smiley told reporters Tuesday that the city may have to implement layoffs and lay off additional employees — which he said would save the city $200,000 a day. It’s also possible, he said, that the city could impose a tax increase mid-year, something it can’t do without approval from the General Assembly.
“If any legislation is introduced, it will be thoroughly reviewed through the public committee hearing process,” Senate spokesman Greg Pare said in an email.
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling has intensified the battle over funding obligations to the district. The feud became public in early October after Smiley called a press conference to unveil an “ultimatum” issued by Providence Superintendent Javier Montañez, asking for $10.9 million for the district.
Montañez warned Smiley that without the city’s money, the district would have to cut back on winter and spring sports, as well as revoke students’ Rhode Island Public Transit Authority bus passes.
Smiley responded the next day with a $1 million offer, promising to use money from a tax substitution agreement recently made with Lifespan Corporation, plus a parking deal with the Rhode Island School of Design. The City Council pledged to reallocate $1.5 million of its share of federal money for pandemic relief.
But Smiley said the combined offer was not accepted as of Tuesday.
“All of this is happening in the context of irresponsible spending by the school department,” he said Tuesday. “We all know there would be a ‘fiscal cliff’ if federal COVID relief expired, and they did nothing to plan for this other than send us the bill and expect Providence taxpayers to foot that bill .”
Smiley blamed the Infante-Green administration at RIDE for a lack of cooperation, adding that the city would help establish discipline and oversight of state spending.
“It is clear that the commissioner views her ability to govern our schools as one entity, without checks and balances,” he said. “Collaboration is one-way traffic for her.”
Smiley and City Council President Rachel Miller called on the state to return the district to local control — something the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education declined to do in August, instead extending the takeover until 2027.
“Our city is not a bank for a state-controlled experiment,” Miller said. “After four years, it has become abundantly clear that the state takeover does not help promote the cooperation and transparent decision-making that our students need.”
RIDE spokesman Victor Morente said it was a lack of city resources and underperformance that led the state to take over the First Palace school district.
“City leaders have repeatedly stated that they are willing to prove to the state that they are willing to regain local control, but their budget priorities say otherwise,” Morente said in a statement.
The budget feud led to high school students gathering outside City Hall on Tuesday.
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