OP-ED; Ho hum, Hizzoner was no humdinger

Thomas M. Keane, Jr.
825 words
11 January 2002
Boston Herald
All Editions
021
English
(Copyright 2002)

Ho hum. Another term, another speech.

The advance word was that Boston Mayor Thomas Menino would use last Monday's inaugural address to sketch out an agenda for the next year. This, we were told, was to be the speech of a reformer, Menino's opportunity to lay claim to the mantle of innovator.

"You want and deserve innovation in city government," he said, whetting everyone's appetite. And he promised specifics.

"People will ask, `What does that mean, Mayor?' "

It means things such as "hard truths," he said, answering his own question. "Some of the old ways don't work any more," and "Business as usual is not good enough."

Yet again, he asked, "What does that mean?"

The crowd, pumped with excitement, was waiting breathlessly for the answer.

OK, it wasn't. Most people were paying more attention to Menino's grandkids playing on the floor.

Still, a couple of us were listening. After the buildup, we heard "partnerships."

Partnerships - that's a polite way of saying get businesses and nonprofits to kick in money and services that the city can't cough up. That's it. This year's definition of innovation is to put the squeeze on someone else.

Two problems: It's not a new idea and it's not going to work.

Menino has always talked about public-private partnerships. "Partnerships" was the catchword of his 1994 State of the City speech. They were the idea that underlay Menino's failed efforts to establish business improvement districts downtown or his creation of the largely private Trust for City Hall Plaza.

But the city has been squeezing for years now and, especially during a recession, it's not clear there's much more blood to be had. Businesses cutting payrolls are hardly in a position to donate more to Boston. Nonprofits are also facing tough times.

In years past, Menino's public-private partnerships always had a genteel quality to them. This year, however, there was an edge to the mayor's rhetoric.

Especially when he talked about forcing tax-exempt institutions to up their payments to the city.

"Most Bostonians would be surprised to learn that 51 percent of the city's real estate is off the tax rolls, controlled by tax- exempt institutions," the mayor said.

The gathered crowd was shocked, outraged at these institutions leaching off Boston.

OK, they weren't shocked. In fact, most were eyeing the gaggle of city councilors up on stage, wondering which backs would be bloodied with whose knives in the election for president later that day.

However, if they had been paying attention, the shock would have been how misleading Menino's numbers were. The biggest of those nefarious tax-exempt institutions? Various governments, which own almost 80 percent of tax-exempt property. What's he going to do - tax Boston Common?

Knock off other property like churches and 121(A) property (which is tax-exempt because the city cut a deal with a developer in exchange for some community benefits) and one is left with a much smaller number. Turns out, it's 5 percent --of untaxed city land - mostly hospitals and schools.

That could still amount to a lot, except that for years Boston has been collecting payments in lieu of taxes from them.

For example, the city has an agreement with Massport that requires the authority to pay about $11 million a year through 2005, which means that perhaps in his fourth term, Menino may be able to renegotiate a larger payment.

How about schools and health-care facilities? They already pay $8.9 million a year. The city normally has tried to get those institutions to pay about 25 percent of what they would pay if taxed. But hospitals are suffering. When their agreements come up for renegotiation, don't be surprised if their payments actually go down.

That leaves colleges, always a favorite whipping boy. Menino was blunt. Harvard University in particular has been looking to develop in Allston and Brighton. That's a big hook for a lot of goodies. As Menino said, "If Boston has a friend in President Larry Summers, then Harvard has a friend in City Hall."

Quid pro quos don't get much more blatant than that.

And how much would all of this raise? The administration, unbelievably, can't come up with a figure. Sam Tyler, head of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, thinks it might amount to a couple of million. That's 0.1 percent of Boston's $1.8 billion budget.

So, after all the hoopla, the new ideas amount to pretty much of nothing. But Menino is right about one thing. People want and need new ideas from government.

We're still waiting.

Tom Keane can be reached at tomkeane@tomkeane.com.

Graphic: MENINO: His speech was much ado about almost nothing.

Document bhld000020020112dy1b00021