Harmon seems to be using the sole criterion of property value to rationalize PILOTs. That, in and if itself, does not illustrate the financial position of a nonprofit entity. By their very nature, nonprofits do not structure their finances the same way as for profit businesses. In fact, they are prohibited from making too much profit by out of scope ventures. Imagine asking a donor for funds to pay Boston to put out a fire in the gallery? Good luck.

wow. tell you what. when every church in the state starts to pay it's fair share of property taxes, then come talk to me about cultural institutions.

i would propose that since churches are increasingly blurring the lines between church and state (politics from the pulpit), it's time they became paying members of their communities.

if every church paid their taxes, the economy would look VERY different.

Interesting questions about how non-profits contribute to good of society in non-monetary ways. Mr. Harmon's position would carry more weight if the Globe wasn't exempt from collecting sales taxes nor paying sales taxes: "Materials, tools, fuels, and machinery, including spare parts, used in newspaper printing are exempt from sales tax if they become components of a product to be sold or are consumed or directly used in newspaper publishing." Where do we begin.

Great piece.  Boston is the "Athens of America," the "City on the Hill," the "Hub of the Universe" and the birthplace of public education in America.  The Boston Public Schools and Boston Public Library are two other critical institutions that will determine what kind of city and future we build together.  If these public institutions are underfunded due to the stinginess of these private "arts and cultural institutions" then we all lose.  Police, Fire and Roads aren't the only thing at stake here.  I appreciate the "eds and meds" who get that, but feel that these payments should not be voluntary.  The city shouldn't have to beg its property owners to support the city's common future.  I have no problem with a much lower tax rate for nonprofits, but a "voluntary" tax rate is outdated.

My favorite line: "Both Ris and Rogers have noted that many major cities provide direct funding for their major tourist attractions, while Boston takes the opposite tack." So Boston institutions get a worse deal from the city, but Harmon thinks they should pay more.  Interesting.

Why doesn't the Globe report on the outrageous salaries that these alleged "non-profits" dole out to their leadership? As a city resident and taxpayer it galls me that these "non-profits" get better services than I do as a resident and taxpayer and the they consume more services than my family ever will. At the end of the day, their officers speed down the Pike in their Range Rovers to their tony little enclaves like Wellesley and Weston, leaving the Boston resident to hold the bag. Non-profits my ahrse!

Larry, The only sure way to make the whole property taxing of non profits issue fair for all is a simple state law change--MAKE THEM ALL PAY SAME RATE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE STATE: SAY $10.00 per thousand assessed value. That is fair. Just send the bill to this bunch of ingrates with their salaries and benefits that they hide behind their cloak of non-profits status.

I agree with the spirit of PILOT and the importance of cultural institutions to recognize that property tax payers fund these services and should contribute their share for services they use.  That said, the city like the state, makes very little effort to ensure services are provided in an efficient as possible manner.  Outdated workrules and antiquated management processes add to costs at the expense of providing services to the citizens.  

This issue has been raised many times in the Globe.  Mr. Harmon does not make his case here.  He lost me with his reckless and ill-informed response to Mr. Roges' position: "A better definition of dire might be the failure of police or paramedics to respond to an emergency in one of the museum’s exhibit halls or restaurants."  So if a visitor to the muweum, from Boston or the moon, has a heart attack at the Museum of Fine Arts, he or she should be left unattended?  How ignorant, sir.

Fairness has nothing to do with it.  This is just a shakedown by Mumbles to pay for his bloated political machine.  The only thing fatter than the Mayor himself is the city bureaucracy.

There ought to be a law: No CEO of a nonprofit can earn more than his/her organization pays in property taxes. 

Part 1 of 2: This was a great, to the point article and kinder than I would have been! I resent the cultural institutions in Boston for not paying their fair share for municipal services. The Mayor's PILOT program is asking these institutions to only pay 25% of what they would owe if they were for profit! As a homeowner and taxpayer in Boston, who is picking up 75% of their share of the bill, I want them to pay more than 25%! Mayor Menino is even willing to take off 50% of that for "community service" bringing their contribution down to 12.5%! It is unfortunate for Boston taxpayers, that those represented on the PILOT Task Force represented non-profit organizations, who were asked to phony up, and not actual taxpaying citizens living in Boston. Given that the Boston Public Schools (BPS) Art Department has been decimated for the last 25 years, and BPS students have had limited, if any, art classes, that their suburban peers received, I find that the Museum of Art (MFA) particularly egregious and arrogant in their refusal to pay their fair share for municipal services. According to the 2011, MFA IRS 990’s, the MFA has NET assets of $941,781,237! I am not talking about art hanging on the walls, that is not even considered part of the formula! I am talking about CASH! The MFA has INVESTMENT FUNDS in Central America and the Caribbean totaling $76,796,906! The City of Boston PILOT program asked the MFA to contribute $518,887. Moreover $259,443. (50%) was a "community service credit!" The MFA only contributed $56,319.; $9,904. LESS than they contributed in 2010! Malcolm A Rogers, MFA Director, was paid $827.930.00! He received a “housing allowance” of $62,500.00! The Boston Emergency Shelter Commission, a Boston municipal service, reported that there were 6,647 homeless in 2011. Does anyone beside me see a problem of greed here! $518,887 is chump change to the MFA!