General Assembly Gives Smithfield OK to Start Billing Bryant

The General Assembly has authorized Smithfield to begin billing Bryant University next March for the cost of police, fire and rescue services.

The General Assembly has given final passage to legislation sponsored by Sen. Stephen R. Archambault (D-Dist. 22,Smithfield, North Providence, Johnston) and Rep. Thomas Winfield (D-Dist. 53, Smithfield, Glocester) (2013-S 0026Aaa and2013-H 5083A), according to a release from the Assembly Legislative Press and Public Information Bureau. The bills, approved and sent to the governor for his consideration, allow Smithfield to begin billing the school on March 1 unless a financial agreement between the two is worked out by then.

Senator Archambault said passage of the bill, which included several amendments that delayed the start of the billing, became an imperative after many failed attempts by officials in Smithfield to reach an agreement with the university. “The end product of those many negotiation efforts and of this bill is about paying some fair amount to the community. The town continues to feel that the school needs to acknowledge that, while it is a non-profit institution, it is also a resident of the town and receives — free — services that are paid for with tax dollars.”

In an apparent response to the bills in the General Assembly, Bryant University added lobbyist Robert Goldberg to its payroll in May, at the estimated tune of $3,000 per month, according to the RI Secretary of State's office. Goldberg also works for GTECH, CVS Caremark, Johnson & Wales and FedEx. He was named among the most powerful people in RI by RI Monthly in 2010. 

Smithfield Town Council President Alberto J. LaGreca said the state provides the town about $450,000 annually in lieu of Bryant taxes. If the town were to tax the university at its full value, however, tax revenue would be in the millions of dollars.

“It is just not equitable,” said Senator Archambault, “that a property owner exempt from paying what would be about $2 million yearly in taxes should at the same time receive services that are paid for by all the other residents of the town, both homeowners and businesses.” In the time that the town has been attempting to reach an agreement with Bryant, he said, other institutions such as Brown, RISD and Providence College have reached agreements with their host communities and been making payments to help defray some of the cost for municipal services they receive.

Bryant University is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. Located on 428 acres of land in Smithfield, on Route 7, the school is home to more than 3,300 full-time and part-time undergraduate students, about 87 percent living on campus. During the last three years, the institution has hosted the town's annual Fourth of July celebration, which returns to the campus Sunday night.