As Syracuse University continues to expand beyond the immediate campus, the university has voluntarily agreed to pay the city of Syracuse $2.5 million in the next five years with a services agreement over untaxed land.

Due to the school’s tax-exempt status, SU is not legally obligated to pay property taxes, said Lindsay McCluskey, press secretary for Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, in an email. Fifty-one percent of property in Syracuse goes untaxed, she said. SU owns $630 million of that property, McCluskey said.

The Syracuse Common Council is set to vote on the agreement on June 20, McCluskey said. If the agreement is approved, SU would be responsible for paying $500,000 annually from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2016, she said. The money would be deposited into the city’s general fund and ‘is not currently earmarked for anything specific,’ she said.

McCluskey said the agreement came after the city and SU acknowledged the success of both are mutually dependent.

‘The City and SU made the agreement because both recognize the University’s ability to function, thrive, expand and create jobs depends on services the City provides — police, fire, DPW, engineering, planning and others — but does not receive property tax dollars due to Syracuse University’s tax-exempt status,’ she said.

No other tax-exempt organizations have been approached with similar agreements, though Miner intends to do so, McCluskey said.

Kevin Quinn, vice president of public affairs, said he attributes the agreement to the university’s expanding influence beyond campus and into the city with projects including the Connective Corridor and the Near Westside Initiative.

As students and faculty have begun to utilize more space in Syracuse, SU requires more services from the city, he said.

The $2.5 million agreement arrives in addition to the already existing Carrier Dome traffic agreement and the university neighborhood services agreement, in which SU pays $368,000 annually to the city until 2016, Quinn said. The neighborhood services agreement was initially a 14 year agreement set to expire in 2014, but was extended by two years to coincide with the expiration date of the other two agreements, he said.

SU is estimated to pay the city $232,755 annually under the Dome agreement, according to SU’s Economic Impact Report for the 2010 fiscal year.

Quinn said SU’s work in the last five to seven years has been beneficial for the city and views the agreement as a willingness on both ends to continue that relationship.

Said Quinn: ‘As a university, we view this as a strong partnership with the city and the mayor’s office in terms of being able to work together and provide support for the city that recognizes that we are extending off the Hill.’

dbtruong@syr.edu

Published on June 14, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong