CITY OF BOSTON
IN CITY COUNCIL
ORDER OF COUNCILLORS
FELIX D. ARROYO, JAMES M. KELLY, JOHN TOBIN,
CHUCK TURNER, MAURA HENNIGAN AND CHARLES YANCEY
WHEREAS: The Massachusetts legislature enacted Chapter 150 of the Acts of 1957, enabling legislation allowing the city of Boston to create the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), and the Boston City Council voted on August 19, 1957 to establish the BRA; and
WHEREAS: Under this legislation, the BRA was granted the power of eminent domain to take private property within declared Urban Renewal Areas; and
WHEREAS: The BRA has asserted its right to seize by eminent domain thousands of parcels of City-owned land and has taken this land without compensation to the residents of Boston; and
WHEREAS: The BRA is authorized by Chapter 121A of Massachusetts law to grant special tax status to properties declared "blighted," and has routinely done so without showing evidence of blight, depriving the City of millions of tax dollars annually; and
WHEREAS: The BRA itself owns hundreds of parcels of land and the BRA does not pay property taxes for that property; and
WHEREAS: The BRA negotiates Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) for institutions that pay only a small fraction of the total taxes which would be due for their fair share of the fair market value. Therefore be it
ORDERED: That the Boston City Council hold a hearing to discuss ways to mitigate the cost of BRA programs to the city including investigations of (i) the monetary loss to the city when the BRA seizes public land, (ii) the amount of lost City revenue under Chapter 121A, (iii) the amount of taxes paid on BRA property for city taxation, and (iv) the creation of an inventory of Boston's institutional property detailing PILOTs paid, fair market tax value for these properties, and an appropriate institutional tax obligation. Officials from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the City Assessor's Office, and other interested parties are invited to attend.
Filed in City Council: January 29, 2003