Boston’s Tax-Exempt Property Snapshot
Boon to the economy with most successful PILOT program
Tax-exempt institutions play a critical role in Boston’s economy and the city in general. In its bond credit report in May for Boston, Moody’s Investors Service stated that the concentration of tax-exempt higher education and hospital institutions “provide economic stimulus” and the City “benefits from the sector’s stable employment base.” The five largest employers in Boston are all tax-exempt institutions, which represent 7.4% of total Boston employment.
PILOT Program – Most Successful – Boston’s PILOT program has been touted as the most successful program in the country in terms of revenue generation.* Tax-exempt properties in Boston made PILOT payments totaling $53.6M in FY17. The breakdown of this total included $33.4M from private exempt institutions, $18.5M from Massport and $1.7M in miscellaneous payments.
Tax-Exempt Overview – Tax-exempt real property in Boston represents 52% of all land area in the City and 35% of its total real estate property value. Publicly owned tax-exempt property accounts for 78% of the city’s exempt land area, while private institutions account for 22%.
Exempt Land is Mostly Public – Public land owned by the Commonwealth, City, U.S. Government and foreign jurisdictions represents 78.1% of all tax-exempt real property in Boston. In total, publicly owned tax-exempt real property represents 40.4% of all land area in the City.
Private Exempt Land – Private tax-exempt property makes up 21.9% of total tax-exempt land and 11.3% of total city area. Medical, educational and cultural institutions constitute about 5.7% of city land, while religious property represents 4.2%.
| Boston Tax-Exempt Land Area | |||
| FY18 | |||
| Category | Area (sq. mi.) | % Exempt Area | % City Area |
| Public | |||
| US Government | 0.38 | 1.6% | 0.8% |
| MA State | 11.27 | 48.7% | 25.2% |
| Boston City | 6.43 | 27.8% | 14.4% |
| Other Public | 0.00 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Total Public | 18.08 | 78.1% | 40.4% |
| Private | |||
| Literary | 1.67 | 7.2% | 3.7% |
| Char./Benevolent | 0.92 | 4.0% | 2.0% |
| Religious | 1.89 | 8.2% | 4.2% |
| 121-A | 0.26 | 1.1% | 0.6% |
| Other Private | 0.32 | 1.4% | 0.7% |
| Total Private | 5.06 | 21.9% | 11.3% |
| Total Tax-Exempt | 23.14 | 100.0% | 51.6% |
| Taxable Property | 21.66 | 48.4% | |
| Taxable & Exempt Property | 44.80 | 100.0% | |
Tax-Exempt Value – Boston’s total real estate property value in FY18 is $156.4B, of which taxable real property represents $102.5B or 65.5% and tax-exempt property $53.9B or 34.5%. The City regularly updates the values of the largest 49 tax-exempt institution with values of $15M or above, but less so for other exempt property.
* Lincoln Institute of Land Policy 2010
