Providence mayor targets 9 nonprofits for tax collection

Providence faces a $110-million deficit, enormous pension problems and the aftershocks of a three-year recession.

Mayor Angel Taveras unveiled a plan to tax nine tax-exempt hospitals, colleges and universities, a move that could raise $7 million more in the year that begins July 1. Without that amount, and other cost-saving measures, Taveras said the city may “free-fall over the edge into dark, uncharted territory.”

The mayor’s request follows a similar one by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who has asked 40 major nonprofits to make partial payments on property worth $13.6 billion.