Taxing the Economic Engine: Higher Education vs. 'The Town'

By Dr. Brian C. Mitchell. One impact of the great recession has been resurgence in demand by cities and towns that colleges and universities pay a greater portion of the region's tax bill.
Municipal authorities make valid arguments to support these demands. They point to the percentage of taxable land taken off the tax rolls by higher education institutions. They note additional burdens on police, fire and first responder calls. City officials differentiate further by "type of use" among facilities and college owned properties and land.
Further, in many instances the request for new taxes-typically called PILOT's (or "payments-in-lieu-of-taxes") extends increasingly to public as well as private higher education. Interestingly, these requests do not typically encompass basic education or other nonprofit groups like churches. More...