NEW HAVEN, Conn. ― Yale’s president defended his school’s tax-exempt status Wednesday as Connecticut lawmakers consider allowing New Haven to tax some university buildings.
A bill before the state legislature would allow real estate taxes on buildings at the Ivy League school that house activities generating more than $6,000 in annual revenue.
An amendment would exempt buildings that generate revenue from athletics and entertainment, such as Woolsey Hall, which hosts numerous concerts, and the Ingalls Ice rink.
But Yale, which has an annual budget of $3.2 billion, said the bill also would allow lawmakers to tax any building in which academic research occurs if that research results in an idea that becomes a commercial application.
President Peter Salovey said the bill would discourage top researchers from coming to Yale and have a negative impact on the region’s biotech companies and other research-based businesses, many of which were spawned by Yale research.
The legislation “will discourage investment in Connecticut,” he said. “It’s bad policy, and I believe it’s bad for New Haven’s future.”
The legislature already has rejected a bill that would have allowed the state to tax Yale’s $25.6 billion endowment.
