Economic Impact Methodology

The source and/or methodology used to compile a figure is listed in bold italics.All figures are for FY2014 unless otherwise indicated.

State of Rhode Island – Workforce Development Investment – $69,354,098

Total College employment/percent who live in Rhode Island – PC Human Resources860 total employees; 680 or 79% of the full-time workforce live in Rhode IslandEmployee/state residents salary and benefit payments – $62,601,557 – PC Human ResourcesState tax collections – $3,467,068 – PC ControllerPayroll income tax – $2,621,281Workers’ Compensation – $197,473State disability insurance – $548,357State unemployment taxes – $99,957College student employment – $3,285,473 – PC ControllerFederal work study funds – $704,537College work study funds – $234,846Other College-financed student payroll – $2,346,090

City of Providence – Workforce Development Investment – $22,361,303

Total College employment/percent who live in Providence – PC Human Resources860 total employees; 218 or 25% of the full-time workforce live in ProvidenceEmployee/city residents salary and benefit payments – $18,861,060 – PC Human ResourcesProvidence-based scholarships and financial aid – $3,281,837 – PC Financial Aid OfficeUndergraduates – $2,701,022Graduate students – $145,719Adult continuing education – $435,096Other student related investments- $218,406RIPTA transit fee payments – $109,192 – PC Business ServicesProvidence student employment funds – $109,214 – PC Controller

State of Rhode Island and City of Providence – Revenue Creation – $100,798,768
College capital investments – $98,595,191Construction, renovation & equipment – $43,517,446 – PC Financial Services Office Other major vendor purchases – $55,077,745 – PC Controller These were purchases of $10,000 or more made from RI-based vendors Dunkin Donuts basketball-related revenue – $2,126,193Dunkin’ Donuts Center rental payments – $594,333 – PC Business Services Dunkin’ Donuts Center ticket surcharges – $251,834 – PC AthleticsDunkin’ Donuts food/beverage concessions – $477,216 (estimate)The College used the figure from the 2010 economic summary and estimated 6% growth per year.Dunkin’ Donuts Center game parking fees – $781,227 (estimate)The College used the figure from the 2010 economic summary and estimated 3% growth per year. Dunkin’ Donuts Center merchandising sales – $21,583 – PC Athletics

Other – $77,384
PC Bookstore – state sales tax collections – $34,400 – PC BookstoreDunkin’ Donuts store at PC – state sales tax collections – $38,599 – Dunkin’ DonutsMotor vehicles registered to Providence College – $4,385 – PC Business ServicesPC-Generated Revenue to City of Providence – $5,366,366

Direct Revenue
College direct payments – $1,525,986 – PC Controller
Sewer fees – $245,065Water fees – $443,405Voluntary PILOT payments (2003 agreement) – $272,249Payment from 2012 agreement – $315,845Permits & licensing fees – $75,392Police & fire related services – $137,920Property taxes – off-campus properties – $36,110College employees’ direct expenditures – $463,854Homeowner property taxes – $352,020 (estimate)

• PC Human Resources identified College employees who live in Providence.  PC Public Affairs then went down to City Hall and matched those records against the City’s tax database to determine the aggregate number of property taxes paid by College employees/City homeowners in the City during FY2014.  The number is likely low, as our records did not match City records exactly, and there were a number of employees listed as living in Providence for whom we could find no information.

Auto excise taxes – $111,834 (estimate)

• The College used an average car value in the city of Providence of $5,700.  The vehicle tax rate in Providence for 2014 was $60 per thousand, putting the average tax bill per car at $342.  (These figures came from the City of Providence website.)  To arrive at an aggregate figure, we multiplied $342 X 218 College employees living in the City X an average of 1.5 cars per employee/family.

College employees’ consumption spending – $3,376,526 (estimate)

• The College used the figure from the 2010 economic summary and estimated 3% growth per year. 

PC-Generated Revenue to City of Providence – $26,904,533
Imported Revenue
Off-campus students- $8,515,115Apartment rental income – $5,211,445Utilities – $532,494Food & other living expenses – $1,282,439Discretionary spending – $1,488,737

• The College had 628 undergraduate day students living off-campus in FY2014.  We surveyed 50 of those students (8%) to arrive at these numbers.  We multiplied the apartment rental and utility monthly averages by 12 months, and the food/living expenses and discretionary spending figures by 9 months.

On-campus students – $10,140,839Food & other expenses (no campus meal plans) – $4,481,075Discretionary spending – $5,659,764

• The College had 3,178 undergraduate students living on campus in FY2014.  We surveyed 100 of those students (3.15%) to arrive at these numbers.  We multiplied both of these monthly averages by 9 months.

PC employees living in Providence – apartment rental income (estimate) – $1,790,100

• As our employees who live in Providence live all over the City and not just in Elmhurst, we used an average rent for Providence of $1,275/month (https://www.apartmentlist.com/rentonomics/dec-2014-rental-price-monitor/)X 12 months X 117 employees who live in Providence but do not own homes = $1,790,100.
• Apartmentlist.com showed the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Providence to be $1,250/month and the median for a two-bedroom apartment to be $1,300/month.  We used $1,275 as the average between the two.

Parent-alumni visitation (hotels/restaurants) – $3,619,893 (estimate)Commencement Weekend – $1,292,750Formal Parents Weekends (Freshmen) – $895,700Informal parent weekend visits – $433,240Upperclass student “Move in” Day – $323,087Freshmen orientation – $133,400Formal Alumni/Trustee Weekends – $541,716

• Attendance figures for all weekends and events were compiled by the Office of College Events using actual attendance. We used a hotel room night figure of $150.50 per room per night which was the average of the actual room block rates charged by each hotel.  Meal cost figures were obtained from the College’s event registration and management consultant.  That figure was $75 per person per day, broken down as follows: $12.50 for breakfast, $17.00 for lunch and $45.50 for dinner.

Other PC visitors (hotels/restaurants) – $1,473,022 (estimate)Visiting athletic teams – $942,513 – PC AthleticsSummer athletic camps  – $31,854 – PC AthleticsStudent prospects – campus visits – $451,011 – PC AdmissionsAdmitted students – campus program – $47,644 – PC Admissions

• Figures for visiting athletics teams were provided by PC Athletics.  We then used the same hotel room rates and meal costs per person as noted above.
• Figures for summer athletic campus were provided by PC Athletics. (1,650 youngsters attended summer camps in FY2014 for swimming, soccer, field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s ice hockey, lacrosse and tennis.  We estimated 25% of those attendees – 413 – had at least one parent who ate at least one meal in Providence (lunch) for a total of $7,021.  We also estimated that 10% of attendees – 165 – had at least one parent who spent one hotel night in Providence at the average room rate noted above for a total of $24,832.50.  $24,832.50 + $7,021 = $31,853.50.)
• Figures for the student prospect campus visits and admitted students campus program were provided by the PC Admissions Office.  We used the average lunch cost of $17 provided by our event registration and management consultant to estimate meal costs.  One event was an evening event, and we estimated that 50% of those attendees stayed in a hotel room.  We used the $150.50 average hotel room rate as noted above to estimate hotel costs.  For the “Family Day” event, which had 738 student attendees and 2,200 people overall, we estimated that 20% of families (440 people) stayed overnight in a local hotel room (3 to a room) at the $150.50 rate.

Men’s basketball attendees @ Dunkin Donuts Center (hotels/restaurants – estimate) – $879,767

• According to PC Athletics, average attendance at PC Men’s basketball games for the 2013-14 season was 8,347 people.  We estimated that 20% of attendees would go out for dinner and/or drinks in Providence before or after a game.  That is 1,669 people.  Of those, we estimated that 75% or 1,252 people would go out for drinks and 25% or 417 people would go out for dinner.
• 1,252 people X avg. drink check of $15.00 = $18,780
• 417 people X avg. dinner check of $45.50 = $18,974
• That’s a total of $37,754 per game X 17 home games = $641,818.
• We also estimated that 1% of the average attendance of 8,347 stayed overnight in a hotel room.  That is 83 people per game.  Eighty-three hotel room nights X avg. room rate of $150.50 = $12,492 per game.
• $12,492 X 17 home games = $212,364.
• In addition, PC’s Men’s basketball team accrued 170 hotel room nights in Providence (17 games X 10 rooms per game).  The team stays in a local hotel the night before a game.  170 X $150.50 = $25,585.
• $641,818 + $212,364 + $25,585 = $879,767

College faculty/staff recruitment (hotels/restaurants) – $30,657 PC Academic Affairs/Human Resources

• This represents actual costs incurred by the College’s Office of the Provost/SVP of Academic Affairs and the College’s Human Resources Dept. for hotel rooms and meals in Providence as part of efforts to recruit new faculty/staff during FY2014.

Wedding receptions held in Providence – $205,150 (estimate)

• According to the College’s Campus Ministry office, there were thirteen wedding ceremonies held on the PC campus in FY2014.  (PC typically allows alumni to use the College’s St. Dominic Chapel for their wedding ceremonies.)  The College estimated that 8 of these 13 weddings then held their receptions in Providence, which they likely would not have done if not for the fact that the wedding ceremony was held at the College.  (Close to 90% of the College’s student body comes from out of state.)
• The College estimated the average cost of a wedding reception (including the rehearsal dinner) for a wedding of 150 people to be $20,000.  $20,000 X 8 receptions = $160,000.  In addition, we estimated that 50% of the 150 attendees would stay in a local hotel room for at least one night.  That equals 75 people (2 to a room), resulting in 37.5 hotel room nights per wedding.  37.5 X avg. room rate of $150.50 X 8 weddings = $45,150.
• $160,000 + $45,150 = $205,150

College grant to the Smith Hill Community Development Corporation – $250,000
($750,000 grant over 3 years, beginning in FY2014) – PC Public Affairs & Community Relations
Replacing Providence College with Taxable Residential Properties
Loss of 2.8 million to the city of Providence

The College estimates that if it were not located in its present 105-acre campus in Elmhurst, the city of Providence would lose approximately $2.8 million.  We arrived at this estimate as follows:

• The City would add approximately $1.6 million in new gross tax revenue if the PC campus was replaced with residential properties.
• The College’s 105-acre campus is surrounded by single, two-and three-family residential homes in the Elmhurst section of Providence.
• If PC were not here, we estimate it would be replaced with an estimated 513 residential properties, using a plot map overlay of properties comparable in size and square footage to properties currently surrounding the campus.
• If these 513 properties paid property taxes comparable to properties currently owned by PC employees living in the PC/Elmhurst neighborhood, the average annual tax bill for each property would be $3,039 and would generate an estimated $1.6 million in new revenue.
• The City would not gain any new, net tax revenue if the PC campus was replaced with residential properties.
• Using a very conservative estimate that only 25% of the proposed 513 residential properties would be occupied by families with one child, on average, using the city’s public schools, the City would incur new costs estimated at $2.0 million (128 schoolchildren @ $16,336/child).   The per-pupil cost figure for FY2014 comes from the RI Department of Education website.
• The $1.6 million in new gross tax revenues would be offset by the $2.0 million in additional public school costs, leaving a loss of $400,000.
• The City is currently receiving $2,813,114 in combined PILOT payments from the State of
• Rhode Island and Providence College, alternative tax revenue that would be lost if the PC campus was populated with residential properties.
• The four private colleges in Providence represent 56% or $13,567,197 of the $24,227,137 in State PILOT revenue to the City for FY 2014. ($24 million figure is from the State of Rhode Island enacted budget for FY2014.)
• Providence College’s share of the State PILOT funds is approximately $2,225,020 or 16.4% of the total college and university PILOT allocation based on its assessed property value of $288 million (of $1.76 billion amongst the four institutions).
• Providence College also paid $272,249 in voluntary PILOT payments during FY 2014 (via the 2003 agreement with the City), and $315,845 as part of the 2012 transaction allowing the College to acquire portions of three city streets adjacent to the College.

Providence College – Community Service Impact
Volunteer service is provided through the Office of the Chaplain/Campus Ministry, the Office of Student Affairs, the Feinstein Institute for Public Service, and many of the College’s student clubs, organizations and service learning classes.  These figures were compiled for FY2014 from those sources. Composite annual profile for academic year 2013-2014Student community service hours:  55,180Total organizations served: 150

• City government offices
• Public, private & charter schools
• Community service agencies

Major Collaborations with City Organizations

• City of Providence Parks & Recreation Department
• Friars United in Service In Our Neighborhoods (FUSION) – built a community garden at Corliss Park – 75 students/alumni
• Urban Action – Historic Neutaconkanut Park restoration – 175 students
• Smith Hill Community Development Corporation
• Providence College/Smith Hill Annex – space for classes, meetings, training and community gatherings; serves Smith Hill and Chad Brown communities

City of Providence – Public & Charter Schools, Hospitals and Community Organization

• PC School of Professional Studies
• Elementary/Special Education – 4,756 hours
• Health Policy & Management – 8,224 hours (The Providence Center, RI Hospital, RI Free Clinic, Roger Williams Medical Center, Arbor Hill Assisted Living)
• Social Work – 4,080 hrs. (Butler Hospital, Family Services, Youth Build Providence, Kizirian Elementary School, Court Appointed Special Advocate-Providence, Day One, Youth Pride)

EXPLORE college preparatory/mentoring program: 100+ students

•   Mount Pleasant High School
•   Paul Cuffee Charter School (Upper School)
•   Academy for Career Exploration
•   Providence After School Alliance (PASA)

City of Providence – After-School Youth Programs

•   Smith Hill Rec Night (in collaboration with the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence)
•   San Miguel Middle School mentoring program
•   YouthRap – Smith Hill
•   Sophia Academy
•   Paul Cuffee Charter School (Lower School)

City of Providence – Additional Service Initiatives

• Friar Food Rescue – McAuley House, Mary House, Providence Rescue Mission,
• Emmanuel House
• MLK Day of Service – Smith Hill Neighborhood cleanup
• Providence Plunge – McAuley House, Ronald McDonald House