Court rules Syracuse University’s Schine Student Center is tax-exempt

Syracuse University will keep its Schine Student Center tax-exempt, a ruling that leaves Syracuse without a potential revenue stream from one of its most visible campus buildings and keeps the burden of city services squarely on other taxpayers.

The New York State Appellate Division, Fourth Department, ruled June 5 that Schine at 200-10 Waverly Avenue qualifies for a property-tax exemption under RPTL 420-a (1) (a) for the 2022 and 2023 tax years. The appellate panel unanimously reversed an Onondaga County Supreme Court order entered March 19, 2025, reinstated Syracuse University’s petitions and sent the case back to Supreme Court for further proceedings.

For Syracuse, the immediate consequence is straightforward: the building stays off the city tax rolls. That matters in a city where even a single large property can become a major line item, especially when the building sits on a high-profile campus and the city is looking for every possible source of revenue. Schine had been part of a long-running dispute over whether renovations changed the building enough to make some of it taxable, particularly the cafeteria and bookstore operations inside.

The city’s challenge centered on those commercial-style uses, while Syracuse University argued the student center remained an exempt educational property. A 2022 council action tied to Schine would have removed $4.86 million from the city’s tax base, underscoring how much was at stake for municipal finances. With the appellate ruling in Syracuse University’s favor, that money remains outside the city’s reach.

Schine is not a minor structure. Dedicated in 1985 and designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, the renovated center reopened Feb. 8, 2021 after work that began in May 2019. Syracuse University says the project added 8,600 square feet of student activity space and created a more open central atrium, while preserving major campus functions including the 1,500-seat Goldstein Auditorium, dining space, meeting rooms, lounges and offices.

The case was handled for Syracuse University by Jenner & Block LLP and Barclay Damon LLP. The city was represented by Corporation Counsel Susan R. Katzoff and Assistant Corporation Counsel Trevor McDaniel, though local reporting said the city did not send a lawyer to argue against the university’s latest appeal.

The ruling also lands in the middle of a wider Central New York fight over nonprofit property taxes. Le Moyne College is facing a separate Syracuse dispute involving 20 student-housing houses and about $93,000 in taxes, showing that Schine is part of a larger struggle over how much universities and colleges should contribute when they own property that looks and functions partly like private development.