PROVIDENCE, R.I.—As a nonprofit, Brown University has long enjoyed broad property-tax relief on its regal cluster of brick buildings in the state capital's best neighborhood. Now, Providence says it's broke, and City Hall is pointing up College Hill at the Ivy League university, the city's largest landowner. Mayor Angel Taveras, a Democrat who took office a year ago, has already raised taxes and fees on local residents and businesses, renegotiated labor contracts, and closed four public schools seeking to close a budget gap that amounts to $22.5 million for the fiscal year ending in June.
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