Cranston’s Finance Committee has signed off on a new voluntary payment agreement with Johnson & Wales University that would bring the city $150,000 a year for three years, then $100,000 annually after that, following a stretch in which the university sent the city nothing at all. The full City Council is set to weigh in at its regular monthly meeting on Nov. 16.
The committee approved the deal last week, and according to UpriseRI, the schedule calls for $100,000 plus a $50,000 catch-up payment each year from fiscal 2027 through 2029, followed by $100,000 annually from 2030 through 2046 with a cost-of-living escalator tied to the Consumer Price Index. Cranston Finance Director Robert Strom told the committee that negotiations began in May, stalled for about two months after the death of an initial contact, Chris Rawson, and resumed in August, per the same outlet.
UpriseRI reported that Dan Egan, speaking for JWU, said the escalator is capped at 4%. The outlet also reported that JWU sent the city a $120,000 check as a good-faith gesture ahead of the agreement.
Three Years Without a Payment
The arrangement follows the expiration of a previous voluntary payment agreement between Cranston and JWU in 2023. Strom said the mayor’s administration resumed talks this year after the city had received no voluntary PILOT money from the university for roughly three years. Officials said JWU’s earlier annual payments before the lapse ranged from about $190,000 to $224,000, per the same UpriseRI account…