The city of Worcester may pressure tax-exempt colleges, including Clark University and the College of the Holy Cross, to cough up some money for municipal services, according to today’s Telegram. Nick Kotsopoulos reports that the City Council is now reviewing a report on “roughly 2,300 public safety responses to places where local college students reside during a two-year period dating back to Nov 1, 2006, costing taxpayers about $1.5 million.” Some have already reached a conclusion:

[Philip] Palmieri and other members of the council believe that the colleges should make payments in lieu of taxes to the city for the services they receive.

“This really underscores our argument,” Mr. Palmieri said. “We can now show the colleges what we are spending as a city to provide public safety services for them.”

But the Daily Worcesteria blog says it’s short-sighted to attack one of the city’s few growth industries:

Even with the most skewed numbers, it’s clear that the colleges of Worcester contribute MORE than the $1.5 million they cost the city. And that’s only in quantifiable data, nevermind the general impact of bringing outsiders into the city at a higher rate than any other city industry.

UPDATE: The Daily Worcesteria reports that the colleges have struck back with their own numbers.