RebelKyle t1_iw0hkt0 wrote
MAKE THEM PAY THEIR PROPERTY TAXES !
PuritanSettler1620 t1_iw0ttaj wrote
And Harvard, and Northeastern, and Suffolk, and MIT, and Berkley, and Emerson, etc etc
Whyisthissobroken t1_iw11k7z wrote
Harvard and MIT do pay millions to the city of Cambridge already. It's why Harvard wants to move to Boston as they won't make it pay
TooSketchy94 t1_iw1onzr wrote
TIL Boston colleges don’t have to pay taxes and that Harvard wants to break up with Cambridge.
boston_acc t1_iw2211a wrote
Harvard wants to move to Boston? How’d they do that? Opening up a separate campus and “domiciling” there?
member_member5thNov t1_iw236o7 wrote
Harvard owns more real estate in Allston than in Cambridge.
Take a look at Harvard’s plan for developing that land.
They’re already doing it.
They’ll never give up the Cambridge campuses for undergraduates but the majority of future expansion will take place on the other side of the river.
Kirsus t1_iw2jdrs wrote
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.
BossMagnus t1_iw0mvje wrote
This exactly
drtywater t1_iw342sq wrote
But why?
They pay good jobs. Also universities pay for their own services including police. They aren’t removing taxable property at the moment.
giritrobbins t1_iw4v8u4 wrote
Lower Allston would like a word. And Longwood. And like thirty percent of cambridge.
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