Mayor Hopkins introduces $352.7 million budget, proposes tax increase to shore up reserves

Mayor Kenneth J. Hopkins on Thursday introduced a $352,719,712 operating budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, telling the Cranston City Council the plan uses "realistic numbers" to restore the city's financial stability and protect core services.

Hopkins said the proposal would set the residential tax rate at $14.99 per $1,000 and the commercial rate at $22.49 per $1,000 — a move he described as roughly a 7.4% levy increase that would raise the average single‑family homeowner's bill by about $500 a year (about $42 a month). "No one is eager to take on that expense, and I don't take asking for it lightly," he said, arguing the revenue is needed to maintain police, fire, trash collection, snow removal, parks, libraries and recreation programs without layoffs.

The mayor framed the budget as a corrective measure. He told the council that the Rhode Island auditor general had raised "serious concerns" about the city's reserves, internal service fund accounts and the trajectory of spending; he said the former finance…