Advocates Call for PILOT Program Reform

COUNCIL HEARING.

Residents and advocates spoke at a City Council hearing about flaws and possible improvements to PILOT program.

BY SAMUEL P. GOLDSTON AND JACK R. TRAPANICK CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Boston City Council held a hearing to review its payment in lieu of taxes program Friday, hearing testimony from residents and advocates on drawbacks and potential updates to the program that Boston has run since 2011.

The PILOT program requests for large, property tax-exempt nonprofits like universities and hospitals to voluntarily pay 25 percent of the property taxes they would have paid without the exemption.

Up to half of this payment may come in the form of non-cash “community benefits” like scholarships reserved for local students, job training programs, and educational services targeted to residents.

These nonprofits are requested to make the payment because roughly a quarter of the city’s budget is spent on city services like police, fire, and snow removal that benefit these institutions.

For 11 consecutive years, Harvard has paid less under the PILOT program than city officials requested for its land holdings in Allston and Longwood, valued at more than $1.5 billion.

In 2022, Boston requested $13.7 million, but Harvard contributed roughly $10.8 million. In each of the past five years, Harvard has contributed roughly 79 percent of the City’s requests.

Harvard spokesperson Amy Kamosa did not comment on why Harvard has consistently failed to meet the requested amount or how the University decides how much it will pay.

“As a nonprofit educational institution, Harvard engages with the City of Boston in a variety of important ways, including consistent participation in the City’s voluntary PILOT program and delivering community programs to Boston residents, paying municipal taxes on the University’s non-exempt property, as well as leading meaningful ini-