Nerd News: Rhode Island Mayor Wants to Tax College Students for Being Enrolled

WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS?

Blurb:

The mayor of Providence wants to slap a $150-per-semester tax on the 25,000 full-time students at Brown University and three other private colleges in the city, saying they use resources and should help ease the burden on struggling taxpayers.

Mayor David Cicilline said the fee would raise between $6 million and $8 million a year for the city, which is facing a $17 million deficit.

If enacted, it would apparently be the first time a U.S. city has directly taxed students just for being enrolled.

DON'T PEOPLE THINK THAT GOING TO UNIVERSITY IS EXPENSIVE ENOUGH ALREADY?

I also do not buy the argument that somehow students are resource-using parasites leeching off the local taxpayer. Don't those 25,000 students eat in local restaurants, buy tickets on local transportation networks, buy groceries and other things in local shops? Don't they contribute in their own way to the local economy?