BROWN PROFESSORS $10,000 EXEMPTION

The oldest exemption in the State of Rhode Island is the $10,000 exemption granted to the “estates, persons, and families of the president and professors of Brown University” 44-3-3

The original Colonial Charter of Brown University granted by King George of England in 1764 contained a complete exemption from taxation for the university, its president and professors. This was done to encourage educators to emigrate to this country to establish Brown and be free of taxation completely.

From the 1700’s to the mid 1900’s few homes were assessed as high as $10,000, the intent of the charter was still to free the professors from taxation. The Brown Charter was included in the treaty of Paris, signed by England and the United States in 1783 at the end of the Revolutionary War. Therefore this is not an exemption granted by the legislature, as are Veterans and Elderly, it is an inherent right of treaty of the university, it’s president and professors. This brings up a legal question as to whether or not the legislature has the right to repeal the exemption.

In 1951 it was ruled by the Rhode Island Supreme Court that the exemption did not extend to associate professors, just full professors of the university. During the 1960’s the college began to feel the discriminating effect the exemption was having on professors at the college plus professors at other colleges and universities in the state and again tried to break the charter in the courts but failed.

On July 1, 1966 the Board of Directors of the university voted to require all newly appointed full professors to waive the exemption, so the exemption will eventually be eliminated by attrition.