Bryant, town clash boils over

 / COURTESY BRYANT UNVIERSITY
/ COURTESY BRYANT UNVIERSITY

A 17-year-old dispute between Smithfield and Bryant University over the latter’s tax-exempt status finally came to a head this month, after state lawmakers passed a bill requiring the school to negotiate an agreement to help cover the annual cost of its use of town public-safety services by March or be forced to pay those bills.
Questioning the legality of the legislation, Bryant President Ronald K. Machtley, who has been at the helm for 18 years, called the mandate “a tax on a nonprofit.” He threatened to challenge its constitutionality in court if the bill became law.
While Machtley last week was pushing for Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee to veto the bill, that would merely buy the university more time to resolve a longstanding issue that has strained relations between the town and school.
Machtley has said he remains “willing to sit down to talk to the town.” But having a direct Town Council-to-university president discussion has been the sticking point over the years, town councilors and lawmakers say – as contentious as the issue of the proposed agreement itself.
“I can’t even fathom that Bryant would spend money to seek legal representation when they could just travel down the road to meet with the Town Council and come to an agreement that works for both of us,” said Town Councilor Suzanna L. Alba.
Machtley, however, views the issue as one concerning “fundamental rights and fairness.”
Smithfield’s General Assembly delegation and Town Council members had a mostly unified response in interviews last week about Machtley’s assertion that the bill constituted a “frontal attack” on the university, saying he has failed repeatedly to do what he says he will – sit down and negotiate in person.
Newly elected Sen. Stephen Archambault, D-Smithfield, introduced a version of the bill in January that would have removed Bryant’s tax-exempt status entirely, but that did not garner support. He amended it to its present form, which passed the Senate, along with a companion House bill backed by Smithfield lawmakers, late in the recently ended legislative session.
In June, Archambault and others say Machtley’s staff indicated he couldn’t show up for a council meeting on the topic because of freshman orientation. Machtley later informed the public and Town Council that he had to have surgery. But the inaccessibility has a longer history, Smithfield leaders say. “I was frustrated with the lack of willingness on the part of Bryant to sit down and negotiate with the council in good faith to try to come to an agreement with the town,” Archambault said. “It’s a very frustrating thing at the 11th hour, after a whole session of hard work, [to have] President Machtley out there misleading the public by saying there have been multiple meetings to work this out with the council. There haven’t been.”
Machtley, who put out multiple press releases and held a press conference on the subject, told Providence Business News he has made a bona fide effort to extend himself to the town.
“I don’t think those kinds of statements, which just aren’t true, further reasonable resolution of the issues,” Machtley said. “This isn’t personal. The council and I have had cordial relations over the years and will continue to meet.”
Machtley’s public campaign for a gubernatorial veto included urging the university community to ask Chafee to reject the bill.
The governor had until July 11 to decide whether to sign the bill or not, or let it become law without his signature. A spokeswoman for Chafee last week declined to say whether he supported the bill. Even a gubernatorial veto, however, would not stop town officials from pressing Bryant on the issue.
The Town Council on July 9 discussed a newly proposed 20-year memorandum of agreement drafted July 1 by Town Solicitor Edmund L. Alves Jr., without taking action, according to council President Alberto J. LaGreca, Jr. Alves said Machtley was not there and it was unclear if his representatives were in the audience.
Alves said the latest proposal calls for $300,000 in annual payments, four separate payments of $150,000 each for emergency equipment and formation of a “town/university cooperative committee” to resolve ongoing issues, among other stipulations. Town leaders contend that most other Rhode Island host communities receive voluntary cash contributions from their resident colleges and universities, and that the annual $490,000 in PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) money received annually doesn’t cover Bryant’s growing demand for police, fire and rescue services.
“I’m glad that Bryant University is in town,” said Ron F. Manni, council vice president. “They do add to the community. But they also take away from the community in terms of public-safety services. The campus is expanding and that is their plan. We’re not asking for anything other than what other communities ask schools for: pay for the services you use.”
In June, Bryant proposed a 10-year agreement of $35,000 in annual payments, enhancement of in-kind services, and $80,000 worth of used computers. The town had countered with a 20-year agreement similar to the one now on the table.
Machtley has said publicly and in a letter to the Bryant community that the university pumps more than $17 million into the local economy, and contributes $800,000 to Smithfield annually in direct and in-kind support, more than $300,000 of which he described as “voluntary.”
When asked why this issue has remained unresolved for so many years, Machtley said part of the reason is that the town keeps asking for cash. Such payouts would contradict the university’s mission as a nonprofit, which is to reinvest surplus money in the institution, he said.
Coming up with that cash each year could only be done at the expense of students by charging higher tuition, Machtley said.
“Eighty-nine percent of revenue for Bryant is tuition, room and board,” he said. “Any additional money we’re obligated to pay is going to come [from] students. It’s the equivalent of a head tax.”
Machtley said he doesn’t know how much tuition would have to be raised to address this issue, but notes that if Bryant did pay the amount Smithfield is seeking, “the state should reduce the town’s PILOT funding because the town would be getting paid for [those] services.”
The Town Council expects to continue discussion of its latest draft memorandum at its next meeting on Aug. 6. •

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