Word: pilots
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...several interviews, Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Alan J. Stone said that he would sit down with Cambridge officials and renegotiate the PILOT agreement. We hope he follows through on his commitment...
According to city officials, Harvard’s tax-exempt status deprives the city of Cambridge more than $30 million in foregone property-tax income each year. One hundred ninety acres of Harvard property go untaxed. But Harvard’s PILOT only requires a $1.5 million annual payment to the city and—if not renegotiated—is locked in for the next seven years...
Harvard’s true hometown deserves a better deal: it is time for the University to substantially increase its PILOT payment to Cambridge. Voluntary renegotiation of the old PILOT agreement would show great magnanimity on Harvard’s part, and represent a departure from our narrowly self-interested policies of the past...
...University’s administration will be quick to point out, Harvard pays other taxes and has done much in the way of bringing prestige and business to Cambridge. But PILOT payments are a good investment in positive relations with our neighbors. Recent fights over Harvard development—including, notably, the defunct plans for a tunnel under Cambridge Street and a modern art museum on the Charles River that never materialized—demonstrate that both the school and the city lose when politics turn ugly...
Increasing the PILOT payment is a good step towards encouraging lasting cooperation between Harvard and the city. In the long run, larger PILOT payments will appease the University’s neighbors and advance Harvard’s development agenda among grateful city councillors—especially those who have explicitly called upon Harvard to demonstrate its good will...