FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 20, 2026

STYCOS CALLS FOR JOHNSON & WALES
TO PAY ITS FAIR SHARE

CRANSTON, RI — Cranston citywide council candidate Steven Stycos is calling for Johnson & Wales University to make voluntary payments to the City of Cranston in lieu of taxes.

“Johnson & Wales University has almost $40 million of property in Cranston,” Stycos, a Democrat, says, “yet it pays Cranston nothing for fire, police and other city services. It is time for Mayor Hopkins and the City Council to negotiate a long-term voluntary agreement with the University.”

Johnson & Wales University, a tax-exempt institution, currently pays $636,000 a year to Providence as part of a 20-year agreement that also includes payments from Brown University, Providence College and the Rhode Island School of Design.

“If I am elected, I will push for Johnson & Wales to pay Cranston its fair share. City residents should not be subsidizing them,” Stycos says, adding that the university contributed $200,000 a year to city revenues as recently as 2023.

Several buildings in the university’s Harborside Campus are in Cranston as well as a dormitory on Narragansett Boulevard, which was previously the Cranston Hilton.

Cranston ran deficits of $6.5 million and $10 million in the last two years, draining cash reserves. This year Cranston taxpayers were hit with a 5 percent tax increase while programs for seniors and low income residents were drastically cut and teaching positions eliminated in the public schools. In response, rating agencies recently downgraded the city’s financial outlook from “stable” to “negative.”

“The current city leadership mismanaged our money,” Stycos says. “We have a big hole to climb out of.” Stycos, a former chair of the City Council Finance Committee, is one of six candidates for three citywide Council seats in the November election.

Contact: Steve Stycos

Phone: (401) 461-2618

Email: sstycos26@gmail.com

Website: https://www.stevestycos.com/

#  #  #