Harvard isn’t giving back.

Here s what you need to know
What is PILOT What does it have to do with Harvard

Because Harvard University is considered a nonprofit, it is not required to pay property taxes on the majority of the about 10% land it owns in Cambridge. Harvard has the ​greatest endowment of any university in the world at around $50 billion much of which was accumulated through the labor of indigenous and Black people. We believe this ​wealth accumulation should not be taxpayer-subsidized. The Harvard Corporation pretends to pay its fair share through PILOT (Payment in lieu of Taxes), but they only ​pay $4.3 million out of the estimated $180 million [1] they owe.


Now, due to lack of revenue, our elected officials are talking about cutting essential social services such as universal after-school care, municipal broadband, and ​affordable housing. Harvard is directly responsible for these cuts.


Harvard’s PILOT agreement is up for renegotiation for the first time since 2000. We’re demanding a voice in the process because Harvard needs to pay its fair share.


What is our direct ask

[1] Harvard should contribute at least 180 million a year to fund our community. This number was calculated based on the ratio of their assessed land value that they own in Boston, to ​how much they pay the city of Boston times four.

For Families

An increased contribution from Harvard could go ​to pay for urgent community needs, such as ​universal afterschool programs, broadband ​service, and living wages for paraprofessionals in ​our schools.

For Students

We’re calling on Harvard to divest from defense ​technologies that profit off of violence and invest ​in our community.



Watch out for emails from us on action steps we can take together to get what we deserve!

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