Cambridge Hears Town-Gown Reports From Harvard, MIT, and Lesley University

CAMBRIDGE — June 26, 2024 — Cambridge Economic Development Committee hears annual town-gown presentations from Harvard, MIT, and Lesley as pilot renegotiation pressure mounts. Chair Councillor Toner called the June 26 hearing to give rare public visibility to the reports, which are typically received only by the Planning Board. MIT Vice President of Real Estate Michael Owu disclosed that the university's 2024 real estate tax payment will be $96.7 million — 16.8 percent of the city's total tax levy, up from $83.9 million the prior year. Harvard, by contrast, made a voluntary pilot payment of approximately $4.3 million in 2023, a figure public commenter Aaron Chakao, a Cambridge Residents Alliance activist and Harvard faculty member, called incommensurate with the university's swelling property values, noting that the 2004 agreement's 3 percent annual escalator failed to keep pace with real estate inflation. Toner confirmed that a meeting with the city manager to address pilot negotiations specifically is scheduled for August 5.