Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Amherst's Permanent Residents vs. Temporary Residents


A single response to a discussion regarding unkempt conditions on Amherst, Massachusett's Shutesbury Road led participants of the Amherst forum on MassLive.com to take off.

When one contributor said, "its to bad they cant require students to register and pay excise here. Think of all that cash going to other towns while they are using our streets the majority of the year." This inquiry prompted permanent, temporary and non-residents to offer suggestions on how everyone can support the town.

A frequent forum participant, Ryan, proposed a tax of $100.00 per student attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Ryan argued that students use the same services as permanent town residents and not requiring them to pay is granting them"representation without taxation." Ryan's monetary estimates concluded that a $100 tax on students at UMass and Amherst's Hampshire College would bring forth approximately $2,795,000 for the town of Amherst.

"Yes the students do bring economic stimulus to the town they also cost the town and the state a great deal of money. They are residents for 9 months of the year...," Ryan said.

One reader responded to Ryan's proposal, but suggested that the state of Massachusetts, not the students be taxed $100 per student. "Let the state pay that on top of the regular state aid to cities and towns," the reader said.

4 comments:

Adam McGillen said...

I get the feeling the locals don't likey the UMass kids.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Understandable, but people have to remember that a lot of Amherst residents would be out of a job if it weren't for UMass and the other colleges.

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