So, like, apparently, six museums decided they didn’t have to pay the city any money last year. Some Boston City Council members are all like, “Um, what’s up with that, Wu administration?” These museums are part of this free-admissions program for families and school kids called Boston Family Days. Mayor Michelle Wu started this pilot program to give Boston Public Schools students free entry to museums and stuff. Then some councilors wanted to expand it to all kids living in Boston, not just the ones in public schools. Wu was like, “Nah, not right now, guys.” But then she changed her mind and said, “Okay, let’s make it bigger.” Cool, right?
So, Boston depends a lot on property taxes, but there are loads of hospitals, schools, and museums that don’t pay taxes ’cause they’re non-profit. There’s this thing called PILOT where these places can give back to the city based on their property value. The big educational and medical institutions usually give the most money. Wu used to think cultural institutions shouldn’t have to pay into PILOT at all. But now, there’s talk about changing up the whole program ’cause the numbers are kinda lopsided.
The Wu administration recently shared data about PILOT contributions from last year. Turns out, six museums that offer free admissions were let off the hook. They made only $102,505 in cash contributions the year before. The Museum of Fine Arts and the Gardner Museum were the only ones who chipped in some cash. The other four were like, “Nah, we good.” The City Council didn’t even know about this decision to let the museums slide on their payments. Some councilors are not too happy about it.
Councilor Flynn and Murphy called for a hearing to dig into this whole situation. They wanna know how skipping these payments will affect city services and the budget. Flynn also defended himself against accusations that he’s making this political. He just wants all kids in Boston to get free museum visits, not just some. Seems fair, right?
There’s this councilor, Durkan, who thinks everything’s all good. She says the deal with the museums is “ideal.” Flynn and Murphy should chill with their political attacks, according to her. But Flynn’s like, “Nah, we just wanna understand what’s going on.” Breadon, the chair of the City Council committee on PILOT, thinks the Wu administration did a decent job with the free-admissions program. She knows it’s a tricky time to talk about PILOT ’cause the government is being tough on these institutions.
So, Breadon, Mejia, and Pepén joined Flynn and Murphy’s call for a hearing. It’s gonna happen soon to clear things up. We’ll see how this all plays out. Oh, and the Wu administration didn’t comment on this mess yet. Wonder what they’re gonna say, huh?
