As the University's tax-exempt status draws increasing scrutiny, a group of students gathered Sunday to discuss ways to facilitate upping Brown's contributions to the city. Though the group is still in its nascent stage — it does not yet have a formal name — the 20 or so students who attended the meeting made progress towards formalizing specific goals. This week's gathering took on added importance following Providence Mayor Angel Taveras' announcement last week that the city may have to declare bankruptcy if it does not reign in its budget shortfall.
"It's not Brown's responsibility to come in and save the city, but I also think if Brown had been contributing more all along, maybe that rescue would not be all that necessary," Zack Mezera '13, a leader of the group and a BlogDailyHerald contributor, told The Herald after the meeting. "Brown has an opportunity to help out Providence," he added.
Taveras alleged last month that the University reneged on a deal to increase its voluntary contributions to the city by $4 million annually for 10 years. But the University and the city neither reached an agreement nor presented a proposal to the Corporation, Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, told The Herald at the time.
All who attended the meeting agreed that Brown should pay its "fair share," but students floated a number of different definitions for what that statement means. The University paid more than $4 million in voluntary payments and property taxes to the city in 2011.
The University's exemption from property taxes on buildings used for educational purposes drew criticism from members of the group, with many attendees citing this exemption as an example of Brown receiving "special privileges."
Individual students expressed their personal opposition to what they called Brown's tax "immunity."
"All the stakeholders have come to the table and have sacrificed a lot because they've been asked to for the sake of the city," said Aaron Regunberg '12, who attended the meeting. "Students and families have sacrificed a lot. Taxpayers have sacrificed. Unions have come to the table. But the one entity that is the most able to pay its fair share is not willing to."
Regunberg said his experience working in an after-school program in Providence for two years fostered his interest in this issue, since the school where he worked had to be closed due to lack of funding last year, he said.
Mezera also listed witnessing the effects of a funding cut in a Providence public school as his reason for involving himself in this group. "The school needed an extra $2 million to keep a schedule that had boosted its reading and writing results but never received it," he said.
"The group may still be working out its basic premise, but all the members have high hopes for the future," Regunberg said. "There's enough of a progressive ethos within the student body. Once we get the word out, students are going to start to get involved."
Regunberg added that fears that any additional payments to the city would result in higher tuition or less financial aid are unfounded. "It's crazy to set it up as an either-or situation," he said. He cited the number of administrators with six-figure salaries and the new Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts as examples of Brown's disposable income.
"The rest of the city is clamoring about this tax exemption," Mezera said. "When you look around and everyone is clamoring, and you're not, there should be a reflective moment when you wonder, ‘Are we doing the right thing?'"
