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As Boston mayor Michelle Wu ’07 revamps the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program, the city has yet to release the 2024 report on voluntary funding from non-profits — prompting concerns from the PILOT Action Group.
While property taxes comprise nearly three quarters of Boston’s revenue, nonprofits — including Harvard — are exempt from paying this tax. Instead, the PILOT program asks large non-profits to voluntarily pay a portion of what they would have otherwise paid in property taxes.
Many nonprofits, however, fall short of the payments requested by the city — a trend documented in their annual report. While the report is traditionally released in the summer, it has been continuously pushed back in each year following the pandemic. This year, the report has yet to be released.
“The fact that the numbers for fiscal ’24 have not been published is problematic,” PILOT Action Group co-chair Enid Eckstein said.
“I think that makes it harder for the city to even think about trying to put pressure on these institutions,” she added. “Without having the current numbers, it makes it harder for us to be able to be effective advocates.”
Boston officials are currently reevaluating the PILOT program in an attempt to secure tens of millions of dollars for the city. The restructuring is aimed at increasing city funding from institutions who have not met the city’s requests — like Harvard.
Despite owning property in Longwood — and nearly one-third of land in Boston’s Allston neighborhood — Harvard has fallen short on their PILOT payments for the last 12 years.
According to the Fiscal Year 2023 Educational PILOT Contributions, Boston requested that the University contributed $14 million in PILOT payments— but Harvard only paid $11 million.
“They have not lived up to the requested payment,” Eckstein said.
After Harvard failed to meet Boston’s requested PILOT payments in 2023, University spokesperson Amy Kamosa highlighted Harvard’s consistent contributions and community-facing initiatives.
Peter D. Enrich, a law professor at Northeastern University, said that the annual PILOT report is an essential tool to hold large nonprofits responsible for their voluntary payments.
“Having the details of how at least the larger institutions are addressing their obligations to the city is an important way of holding those kinds of institutions accountable,” Enrich said.
Enrich added that PILOT payments can be particularly impactful in areas like Cambridge — which contains a small number of well-funded and endowed entities that are avoiding large amounts of tax.
If a city cannot collect taxes and does not receive PILOT payments, Enrich said they will either have less money in their budget to spend on services that benefit the city, or they will “collect more taxes from the people who are taxable.”
Eckstein, who says she relies on the data releases to understand the impact of PILOT payments on the city, the delay in this year’s report has been a challenge.
“I think that makes it harder for the city to even think about trying to put pressure on these institutions,” she said. “Without having the current numbers, it makes it harder for us to be able to be effective advocates.”
—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.
—Staff writer Frances Y. Yong can be reached at frances.yong@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @frances_yong_.
