Boston University Inks $104M PILOT Deal With City

Boston University will pay the city of Boston $104 million in cash and other benefits over the next five years as part of a payment in lieu of taxes—or PILOT—agreement, The Boston Globe reported. It’s the first written PILOT deal between BU and Boston in more than 25 years and the largest in the city’s history, according to Mayor Michelle Wu’s office.

BU will make annual cash payments to Boston, starting at $6.7 million for fiscal year 2026, which ended in June, and increase that total each year up to $8.3 million in FY 2030. The university will also provide $12.7 million in community benefits, such as scholarships for Boston public school students, for FY 2026, and ratchet up those contributions to $14 million per year. In total, BU will contribute $22.3 million annually to the city by 2030—a 19 percent increase from what the university paid in fiscal year 2025, the Globe reported.

“Boston’s success has always depended on strong partnerships between the City and our anchor institutions, rooted in the shared understanding that thriving institutions and a strong, well‑resourced city go hand in hand,” Wu said in a news release. “This agreement reflects Boston University’s continued investment not only in innovation and education, but in the communities we call home.”

Boston has struggled with its budget in recent years, and half of the city’s land is tax-exempt. PILOT advocates have for years pushed institutions like BU, Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital to voluntarily invest in the city, the Globe reported.

“The city is strapped,” Enid Eckstein, a member of PILOT Action Group, told the Globe. “Everybody needs to step up and really play their part. And it’s not enough to ask me, as a resident of the city who pays taxes, for me to sacrifice.”