With elections just weeks away, many candidates running for office in the city of Troy are contending that RPI should be doing much more for the surrounding city. The candidates that feel that RPI should pay more, pointing to its tax exempt status and the number of services it gets from the city.
The Institute generates many more fire calls than any of the other nearby colleges and the city claims that many are false alarms. RPI disputes that claim, saying that some issues are resolved before the city reaches the campus.
Tom Garrett, Troy fire chief, also stated that the city loses revenue when it sends an ambulance to RPI to respond to a medical emergency, and if the patient needs to be transported, RPI Ambulance takes the patient and the city does not get paid.
Other claims by city candidates focus on the high percentage of public safety calls that the campus generates along with being the largest user of water in the community and using it at a vastly discounted price.
RPI currently is part of a number of initiatives to help Troy and is currently giving around $400,000 to the city annually. While people such as City Councilman Wayne Foy and Democratic candidate for an at-large council seat, Robert Gregor, feel that this is not enough, Bill Dunne, the Democratic candidate in District four, feels that RPI is doing more than its part for the community.
Some candidates, such as Gregor, feel that each student should pay a fee that would be given to the city. A similar program he referenced was one run by Cornell University that gives money to the city of Ithaca.
