Boston City Councillor John M. Tobin, Jr. wants to redirect a portion of the income taxes collected from workers at the Commonwealth’s various non-profit organizations back to the cities and towns where the non-profits are located.

Councillor Tobin, who first introduced the idea last year, re-filed an order at the City Council’s weekly meeting on Wednesday, May 21, and asked the Council to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of the idea. The order was assigned to a committee and a hearing will be scheduled.

“Non-profit intuitions, such as major hospitals and universities, and government-owned properties represent more than 50 percent of the city’s taxable land yet they are exempt from paying taxes,” said Councillor Tobin, who represents West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. “At the same time, these institutions rely exclusively on the city to provide services like police, fire and code enforcement for their workers and the populations they serve.”

Councillor Tobin said cities and towns rely heavily on the collection of property taxes to fund essential services like fire and police departments and public schools. However, while cities and towns alone shoulder the burden of lost property tax revenue, non-profit institutions are used by local people but also by individuals from all over the nation and the world.

Councillor Tobin further explained that while non-profit institutions’ properties are not taxed, the income of their employees is. He said that a fraction of the taxes collected from employee’s salaries could be sent to cities and towns where the non-profits are located to help off-set the lost property tax revenue.

Councillor Tobin said that the issue deserves further exploration and called on his colleagues to discuss a possible study.
“We must be innovative and creative today so that we can continue to provide everyone in Boston with top-notch city services tomorrow and in the future,” he said.