Mayor backs off student tax proposal

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Providence Mayor David Cicilline is no longer going forward with a plan to tax students at the city's four private colleges. Instead, he is now proposing the schools themselves pay the fee.

Cicilline, joined state Sen. Maryellen Goodwin and House Majority Leader Gordon Fox, introduced new legislation in his office Wednesday afternoon.

He said the "Fair Share Assessment Fee" would enable Rhode Island cities and towns to assess to private colleges and universities a fee equivalent to $150 per student, per semester. The bill exempts Rhode Island residents from the fee.

The bill, which replaces a proposal that would have charged the fee directly to students , is designed to offset the costs of providing police, fire, rescue, road maintence, parking enforcement, and other municipal services to students, Cicilline said. It will be up to the individual schools to decide if they will absorb the cost or pass it on to students.

“The playing field has become too tilted against local property taxpayers with Rhode Island’s over-reliance on property tax to pay for schools, the loss of revenue sharing, and the recession,” said Cicilline. “Every stakeholder must come forward to bring balance back to the equation, including the city’s unions and also the large not-for-profit institutions.”

Under the bill, the impact fee would not exceed 25 percent of the applicable commercial tax rate and would only affect institution with assessed property values of $20 million or greater.

According to the mayor, not-for-profits currently make up 40 percent of the assessed value in Providence but contribute less than 1 percentto the City’s budget.