PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — All eyes are on the Providence City Council Finance Committee as the panel takes up a proposal that could more than double how much four private higher-education institutions contribute to Providence over the next two decades.
The committee is slated to discuss and vote Thursday night on the proposed payment in lieu of taxes agreements, also know as PILOTs, drafted between the city and four institutions: Brown University, Johnson & Wales University, Providence College, and R.I. School of Design.
While technically exempt from paying commercial taxes, the nonprofits have historically entered into the PILOT agreements as a way of contributing to city coffers in exchange for taking up so much physical space throughout the city.
A majority of the committee would need to vote in favor of of the agreements to send the plans to the full City Council for final review. The five-person panel is currently down two members.
Chairwoman Helen Anthony has been recovering from injuries sustained after being hit by an ATV in California in June, while Council Pro Tempore Juan Pichardo resigned from his position as vice-chair in July after getting hit with a campaign finance violation earlier this year.
Mayor Brett Smiley unveiled the proposed PILOT agreements earlier this month after two separate agreements expired in 2022 and 2023. Under the combined prior agreements, Providence chief operating officer Courtney Hawkins said the city received a total of about $94 million over 20 years.
“This proposed agreement more than doubles the financial contributions from the last agreement, representing a 138% increase and has the potential to become one of the most generous agreements in the country,” Smiley said earlier this week.
The city’s proposed agreements include a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, with all four institutions totaling about $177 million, and a supplemental memorandum of agreement, or MOA, totaling about $46 million with Brown University.
Altogether, the city would stand to gain $223 million over the next 20 years under the proposed agreements.
Earlier this week, the Finance Committee heard from dozens of residents, business owners, community leaders, and college students in a nearly three-hour public hearing.
Most of the speakers who signed up to give testimony were against the agreement.
Alexandra Leslie ([email protected]) is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on X, formerly known as Twitter and on Facebook.
