Cranston, RI – The taxpayers of Cranston should brace themselves for some upcoming financial turmoil. The City of Cranston’s August 2007 monthly fiscal reports contain some warning signs concerning the City’s fiscal future.

On the first page of the report, it indicates that the Cranston School Department is projecting a deficit of $4,252,297. Due to this deficit a Caruolo action by the Cranston School System against the City may begin in the near future. Meanwhile on page 15 of the same report, Cranston’s municipal budget is projecting that its spending is going over budget by $895,933 after only two months into the new fiscal year.

Under these circumstances, it is hard to see how Mayor Michael Napolitano will balance this year’s budget without a supplemental tax or dipping into the City’s Rainy Day fund.

Based on the monthly fiscal report, prepared by Mayor Napolitano’s Finance Department, it is clear that the Napolitano budget for fiscal year 2008 is headed for trouble even after implementing nearly the maximum tax increase allowed by state law.

In contrast, the 2007 budget for which Napolitano blamed for raising taxes ended in a surplus. (Cranston Herald 8/29/07, and the June 2007 fiscal report)

It is time for Mayor Napolitano to make the tough decisions to control his spending, even if it angers some of the special interests who support him, and to finally be honest with the taxpayers.

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OUR MISSION

The Cranston Republican City Committee (The Committee) is a volunteer organization actively engaged in the process of ensuring that the City of Cranston’s government operates ethically, effectively and efficiently. The Committee is committed to recruiting and supporting local candidates who share in the Cranston Republican City Committee’s desire to do what is in the best interest of the City.

OUR PRINCIPLES

1. Cranston taxpayers pay high taxes at the local, state and federal level. Our goal is to lower taxes in order to grow the economy.

2. To control government spending, compensation and benefit packages for all public employees must be affordable to Cranston’s taxpayers both now and in the future as these employees retire. The taxpayers of Cranston cannot afford health and retirement packages for public employees that are not comparable to the private sector.

3. Management rights in the public sector must be strengthened and cannot be negotiated away as part of any labor negotiating process. Strengthening management rights allows government to operate more efficiently.

4. All federal and state mandates should be fully funded by the federal or state government that issued the mandate. Any federal or state mandate that is not fully funded must be rescinded.

5. To bring more accountability to our educational system, the Cranston School Committee must be subject to the control of the City’s taxing authority (the Cranston City Council) or the Cranston School Committee must have its own taxing authority.