Boston’s nonprofit institutions need to pay their fair share.
The Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program is supposed to make that happen as nonprofits do not currently pay property taxes and 49 percent of city land is occupied by non-taxable entities.
It is not a new problem, but as the Herald’s Brooks Sutherland reports, the PILOT Action Group says its new report shows that the 49 largest institutions in the city have failed to pay over $77 million in promised payments under the PILOT program. The report states that in fiscal 2018, only 26 percent have paid the promised amount.
According to the report, educational institutions are among the biggest culprits. The report states that under PILOT, Harvard was requested to pay $6,091,588 for 2017 but actually contributed only $3,201,702. Boston College paid $335,252, which is $1,410,098 less than the requested amount in 2017; while $8,052,510 was requested from Boston University and $6,100,000 was received. Northeastern University paid $1,300,000, which was reported to be $4,181,710 less than the requested PILOT amount.