RWU to pay Bristol nearly $42M over 20 years

BRISTOL – Roger Williams University today announced it will make annual voluntary payments of $150,000 per year to help offset the cost of emergency services provided to the university community.
In addition, RWU will provide up to $100,000 every five years (about $20,000 per year, on average) toward the purchase of first-responder equipment and vehicles, and another $25,000 per year to help fund civic activities.
The agreement was signed this afternoon by town and university officials in a ceremony at the Bristol County Statehouse. The pact “demonstrates the University’s commitment to growing that relationship and benefiting the residents of Bristol for many years to come,” President Roy J. Nirschel said in a statement.
“A solid relationship between Roger Williams and the Town of Bristol is crucial for both parties,” Nirschel said. “I am pleased that the ongoing discussions with town officials have resulted in this agreement. … As the son of a firefighter, I am particularly pleased that a portion of this significant commitment will be going to first responders.”
Bristol Town Administrator Diane C. Mederos echoed his comments. “I am delighted that the town and the university have persevered in our negotiations,” she said, “and I look upon this agreement as a new beginning and renewed commitment to working together. …
“I credit the unwavering resolve of the Town Council, particularly Chairman Ken Marshall, to keeping the conversation alive despite some difficult moments, and Dr. Roy Nirschel for navigating this step of utmost importance to our respective and overlapping communities.
“Today is a good day for Bristol and Roger Williams University,” Mederos concluded.
The new “PILOT” (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement had been announced on Monday (READ MOREwas signed), but its details had been kept private until the ceremony today.
In addition to the $195,000 per year payments outlined above, it also calls for the establishment of a Town-University Cooperative Committee comprising employees of both Bristol and RWU. The panel is to hold monthly meetings to oversee the spending of the $25,000 civic-activities allotment and to jointly consider other items of mutual interest.
The PILOT pact also delineates the various scholarships, grants and tuition-remission programs that RWU will continue to offer to town residents and employees; those programs are valued at more than $1.6 million per year.
The value of the full PILOT package was estimated at nearly $42 million over the agreement’s 20-year term.
“Balance, diversity, reinvestment and ongoing dialogue have been, and will always be, our vision for Bristol’s success,” Marshall, the council chairman, told the residents and dignitaries gathered for the signing ceremony. “Today, with this agreement we begin a new partnership and strengthen a long relationship between the town and university that can only get better as time marches on.”

Roger Williams University – ranked by U.S. News & World Report as 9th among comprehensive colleges in the North – is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. It enrolls more than 5,000 students at its main campus in Bristol, its School of Law and its Providence Metropolitan Center for Education and Law. For more information, visit rwu.edu.

No posts to display