Syracuse’s mayor and leaders of the common council Monday said they plan to appeal this month’s ruling denying them the right to tax a small portion of Syracuse University’s Schine Student Center, but there’s no guarantee they will be allowed to.
The state’s second-highest court, the State Appellate Division, ruled in early June that the chain restaurants, such as Panda Express, that the university operates in its Schine Student Center fits with the educational mission of the school despite being open to the general public and is exempt from taxation by the city.
The appeal to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, is not automatic. The Appellate Division must give permission for the appeal. The city will have to argue why there’s an issue worth appealing and at least two of the 10 judges on the Appellate Division must agree to allow the appeal before it can happen.
“The city's appeal is not a challenge to the university's educational mission,” Mayor Sharon Owens said in a statement. “Rather, it stems from the assessor's analysis which indicates that a portion of the revenue generated by the Schine Student Center is derived from activity involving the general public and not exclusively students, faculty, or the university's academic operations. It is that portion of the facility for which the city is seeking taxation.”
The city sought to make taxable about 8 or 9 percent of the student center, which correlates to the amount of space being used for the chain food and beverage stores. It would have provided about $60,000 a year in additional taxes to the city, on top of what SU already pays for several dozen of its off-campus properties and on top of an annual payment the university makes to the city as acknowledgement of the services the city provides to its largest non-profit.
The agreement for the annual payment expires at the end of the month and discussions between the city and school are said to be underway. SU officials said recently that they may be in danger of running a budget deficit soon.
About half of the city’s properties are owned by nonprofit organizations that pay no taxes.
“We remain committed to working collaboratively toward solutions that balance institutional growth with the broader interests of the community as a whole,” said Council President Rita Paniagua and Councilor Corey Williams in a joint statement.
