Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Smithfield may be the only municipality that does not have a formal agreement with the university it hosts, but legislators Tuesday were hesitant to add such an agreement to the state laws.

The Senate Finance Committee opted to hold a bill sponsored by Sen. John J. Tassoni Jr., that would allow towns to tax 20 percent of the assessed value of universities that sit within town limits.

The bill refers to universities in Rhode Island that do not already have a pre-existing agreement with their municipality. Since Smithfield doesn't have such a pact, the bill really applies only to to Bryant University and Mater Eccelssiea, a small all-women's religious college. A nearly identical bill was presented in the House by Rep. Peter J. Petrarca.

The town said Bryant Universityy needs to chip in for infrastructure and capital improvements in exchange for the years of fire and police protection the town has provided.

The committee held the bill, asking for exact calculations on how much a rescue run to Bryant costs, as well as how many building permits the university has requested from the town in the last five years.

"If the town's main objective was to cover their costs for public safety runs, that's understandable," said committee chairman Daniel DaPonte (D-East Providence). "If the town is looking at the university as another revenue generator, it's not so much about looking for every possible avenue to generate revenue, it's also about looking at expenses. If you told me Bryant drains the public safety budget [that would be different.] If your argument is that this is another way to generate tax revenue, I've got a problem with that to be honest with you."

Bryant University President Ronald K. Machtley told the committee the town has never clarified how it calculated the amount of money runs to the college cost town services. The university is only reliant on the town for police and fire services; it handles all of its sewer, water, trash and street plowing itself. He said it is unfair to single out nonprofit colleges and force them to pay taxes.

"If a city is so desperate for money that they need to tax nonprofits, tax us all and we will pay our fair share," Machtley said.

 Tags  Bryant University RI Senate Finance Committee Smithfield RI Smithfield Town Council

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