Kirsus t1_iw2jdrs wrote
Reply to comment by RebelKyle in BU proposes three new buildings as part of $1-billion campus upgrade; also wants to start looking at building over the turnpike by EnjoyTheNonsense
It’s fine to say this, but YSK that BU and most other area institutions participate in the Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) program, which sees them contributing directly to the community rather than pay certain taxes.
A link to the numbers at the bottom of the page— BU contributes 80% of the city’s ask, which is above the average. And it’s worth noting that under certain criteria some institutional property IS taxable, and schools pay out for that.
giritrobbins t1_iw4v2j3 wrote
Except most of that isn't cash. And they get to value their contributions to the community.
Cold hard cash is better.
Kirsus t1_iwbx610 wrote
Well you might be right about that. Though this is the government where, as folks here will readily point out, funding allocation doesn't always seem to get fed back in to supporting that which generated the revenue. (The MBTA being saddled with Big Dig debt isn't a direct example, but it sure rhymes.)
Sure the institutions will tend to focus their community benefit on things that benefit them as well, but it seems to me that the city is incentivized to have the universities succeed (and to self-determine the best ways to do so).
giritrobbins t1_iwbxpr4 wrote
Fair, I wish that Universities would contribute more cash, though in Boston the Pilot amounts aren't enormous and I know they'd be a burden for smaller schools. I lived in Lower Allston near all the Harvard stuff and even though Harvard claims to have things for Allston and Boston residents, it was never clear or communicated how I could access the classes, or other community benefits they claimed.
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