City Criticizes Low Harvard Payments

Cambridge City Councillors are increasingly agitated over what they say are the "woefully inadequate" payments in-lieu-of-taxes that Harvard gives to the city.

In last night's council meeting, the councillors all agreed that Harvard and the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) should give the city more money.

Currently, Harvard gives the city close to $1.6 million a year in a voluntary payment in-lieu-of-taxes. As it is a non-profit institution,

Harvard is not obligated to pay property taxes under Massachussetts law.

This marked the first time the council has met publicly since councillors sat down on Feb. 13 with representatives of Harvard and MIT, for a discussion of in-lieu-of-property tax payments.

The conversation this year, as with past years, ended without the city councillors and university spokespeople seeing eye to eye.

All of the councillors agreed last night that the payments from the universities are not enough.

"Their [Harvard and MIT's] in-lieu-of-tax payments are woefully inadequate" said Timothy P. Toomey Jr.

Some of the councillors argued that the payments of the universities should increase proportionally to city taxes.

"The residents of the city should feel that as their taxes go up, the in-lieu-of-tax payments should go up, too," said Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio.

Many councillors said that this year's meeting with university representatives was no different than any other year.

"The conversation has a certain sameness about it, time after time after time" said Councillor Kathleen C. Born.

But citing Harvard's record endowment, and MIT's recent acquisition of Tech Square, the councillors all agreed that each university owed more to the city.

Several councillors expressed interest in meeting with one another to put together a unified plan on how to deal with Harvard and MIT.

"I want to have a very different conversation-and have it with the

councillors" said Councillor Kenneth E. Reeves '72.

But Harvard's representatives are less than inclined to give more money in the form of in-lieu-of tax payments to the city, citing the fact that Harvard is expanding elsewhere and that it gives money to programs at its own discretion.

"Should there be a change in Harvard's physical presence in Cambridge-then it would be appropriate to consider changes to our pilot agreement" Mary Power, Harvard's senior director of community relations, said yesterday.

And in a letter dated Feb. 13 from Paul Grogan, Harvard's Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs, Harvard fully enumerated its position on increasing its in-lieu-of-tax payments-the agreement made in 1990 will continue on an "annual rollover basis" through 2010, as originally planned, as far as Harvard is concerned.