MEETINGS & EVENTS

Letter to the Editor: by Christopher Phillps

Editor:

Your recent editorial pertaining to the plan by the mayor of Pittsburgh to impose a municipal tax on college tuition raised some very valid points. Unfortunately it misses the mark by ignoring the root cause of the problem which is the failure of non-profits to take responsible, moral and ethical steps to make municipalities whole as result of lost tax revenue.

Everyone understands that colleges and universities are economic catalysts and overall a great asset to any community. However, when one consistently devours taxable land rendering it non-taxable while the population of the municipality continues to leave it creates an enormous burden on the taxpayers. The burden is not made up by other means such as wage taxes or building fees and falls squarely on the shoulders of the taxpayers. To knowingly allow that is unjust, immoral and ethically wrong.

The measure proposed by the mayor of Pittsburgh does in fact punish students and is not, in my opinion the way to pursue revenue from non-profits. A more logical and fair proposal was reported in your paper on November 29, 2009. The proposal in the form of a state bill would give municipalities the option of imposing a fee on tax-exempt property based on square footage or maintaining existing agreements for non-profits to make payments in lieu-of-taxes. This bill gives municipalities the option and it also creates an environment that encourages the non-profit to make payments voluntarily.

This year the Scranton School District will lose over 2 million dollars in tax revenue due to University of Scranton’s removal of taxable land from our tax rolls. Not so ironically the amount of money the district is trying to fill in our 2010 tentative budget is approximately 1.6 to 1.9 million. Therefore, logic dictates but for the University of Scranton we could be lowering taxes.

What is disturbing is that since 1992 the University of Scranton has cost the taxpayers of the Scranton School District over 26 million dollars. I am willing to believe that amount may have covered every tax increase in that time period. Keep in mind that this figure of 26 million dollars lost is only by the Scranton School District. This does not include the city or the county. Apparently, at this time no officials from the city or the county are prepared to do the math to determine those losses.

Still more troubling is the rate of their land acquisitions. Through 2009 and beginning in 1952 the University of Scranton has removed 154 properties from the tax rolls. However, more than half of those (84) have been taken in the last ten (10) years which has compounded the negative impact to our revenue stream dramatically.

While I understand the benefits they bring to our community it does nothing to relieve the burden on the taxpayers. The university has an endowment fund of approximately 100 million dollars. A payment of 1 % yearly of that fund would be a start to make up the damage to our tax base they have inflicted. They earn more by way of annual interest and should be ashamed of their failure to contribute monetarily.

Christopher Phillips