TOWN OF DANVERS Town Hall, Sylvan Street

Danvers, Mass. 01923

Telephone (978) 777-0001
Office of the Town Manager Fax (978) 777-1025

Memorandum
To: Board of Selectmen
From: Steve Bartha, Town Manager
Date: May 19, 2017
Subject: Payment in Lieu of Tax (PILOT) Program - Update

On November 15, 2016, the Board of Selectmen approved a voluntary PILOT program, as
described in the attached memorandum, dated November 3, 2016. Eleven local organizations
(see chart on next page) met the criteria for participation in the program. Efforts to date are as
follow:

• November/December 2016 – letters mailed to participant organizations explaining the

program and offering in person meetings with the Town Manager
• January/February 2017 – follow up phone calls made by Town Manager’s Office to
participant organizations to answer questions/schedule meetings.
• January/February 2017 – initial meetings held by Town Manager with representatives
from participant organizations
• March-May 2017 – follow up phone calls and meetings

The PILOT program has two main objectives. First, to compel the largest tax-exempt
organizations in Danvers to make a financial contribution (PILOT) to offset a portion of the tax-
supported services they consume, namely Public Safety and Public Works. Second, to allow for
the organizations to offset a portion of their PILOT in the form of services (community benefit
offsets) provided back to the municipality in lieu of cash.

As a group, the organizations were very receptive to the concept of offering community benefit
offsets. For two of the organizations, North Shore Community College and Essex Technical High
School, community benefit offsets are the only form of payment permissible under law (absent
legislative change), and both expressed a strong interest in participating in the program.

The program remains a work in progress, but the process has deepened the appreciation among
some of our nonprofits for the services the Town provides, without compensation, to support
their missions. To that end, some committed, or recommitted, to “do right” (in their words) by
Memorandum: PILOT Program - Update
May 19, 2017
Page 2

the Town and contribute monetarily (either for the first time or at greater levels than before)
under the program. Others committed to offer new or expanded community benefits to
Danvers residents. Below is a table summarizing the outcome of preliminary discussions and
negotiations:

Organization Prop. Value Tax Value Cash CBO

Mass General * 44,346,336 968,081 242,020 60,505
Cash: $104,952 / CBO: yes, discussing use of specialists to develop programming with Director of Health
St. John's Preparatory School 37,320,700 814,711 203,678 50,919
Cash: $0, offered to forgo $14k federal ESSA funds (no budget value) / CBO: yes, use of facilities, as needed
Lahey Clinic * 23,138,175 505,106 126,277 31,569
Cash: $42,009 / CBO: yes, discussing use of specialists to develop programming with Director of Health
New England Home for the Deaf 8,445,700 184,370 46,092 11,523
No response to letter / phone calls
St. Mary's School 6,963,300 152,009 38,002 9,501
No response to letter / phone calls
Northeast ARC 3,835,000 83,718 20,930 5,232
Cash: $0 / CBO: yes, working with Town to identify CBO offsets of value to the community
Hospice of the North Shore 3,544,300 77,372 19,343 4,836
Cash: TBD / CBO: yes, working with the Town to identify programmatic needs.
YMCA of Danvers 2,335,400 50,982 12,745 3,186
Cash: $0 / CBO: yes, meets a variety of Town space needs, e.g. renting pool to swim team for 50% of retail
Toward Independent Living & Learning 1,878,500 41,008 10,252 2,563
No response to letter / phone calls
North Shore Community College 45,345,800 989,899 0 247,475
Cash: N/A / CBO: yes, discussing a variety of ways to provide community benefits to Danvers residents
Essex Tech Vocational School 41,573,400 907,547 0 226,887
Cash: N/A / CBO: yes, $10k+ so far this year in the form of experiential learning; discussing office space

I look forward to discussing the status of the program with you next week at our meeting.

Enclosures