Bill Proposes to Tax Harvard

Harvard and MIT could be hit hard by a bill proposed to the state legislature which would tax currently tax-exempt land owned by non-profit organizations such as universities and hospitals.

The bill would place a tax of 0.5 percent of the value of such tax-exempt land owned by the institutions.

The proposal, sponsored by State Sen. Robert Travaglini (D-Cambridge) and State Rep. John McDonough (D-Boston), would raise Cambridge's tax revenues by millions of dollars.

Travaglini and McDonough were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Harvard and MIT, two of the biggest property taxpayers in the city, would be most affected by the tax Both universities now pay millions of dollars every year on property used for non-academic purposes.

Harvard also gives the city of Cambridge an annual $1,200,000 gift in lieu of property taxes, and MIT makes a $900,000 annual payment.

Cambridge finance director James Maloney said yesterday the bill's chances are difficult to measure at this time.

Maloney said "statutory constitutional issues" might obstruct the bill's passage. "A city like Cambridge would like to see this passed," Maloney said.

Cambridge officials said yesterday there have been persistent efforts to enact this type of tax on universities in the past.

Just last week, City Councillor William H. Walsh proposed his own plan for increasing taxes paid by the city's universities.

Walsh's proposal would tax 50 percent of the market value of university property not used for academic purposes. The Travaglini bill is still in its early stages and Walsh's proposal must pass through both the legislature and the city council.

Because of the multitude of obstacles that these bills face before they can pass, the University is not actively lobbying against them, Green said yesterday.