To the editor:
Gov. Maura Healey is slow-walking chances to address PILOT inequities and our climate emergency
For western and central Massachusetts communities hosting large swaths of state-owned land, the state’s payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) provide critical funding for roads, firefighting, and other services. Yet these payments for largely unoccupied land are tied to local real estate values, leading to vast funding disparities.
For example, the town of Edgarton on Martha’s Vineyard received a PILOT reimbursement of $992 per acre in fiscal year 2026 for its 2,848 largely forested state acres, while Monroe in Franklin County received only $4.43 per acre for its 2,620-acre state forest—a reimbursement disparity of 223 to one! Overall, our western and central Massachusetts communities in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, and Worcester counties received $50.53 in PILOT funds per acre, compared to an average of $325.43 per acre in the east.
Gov. Healey acknowledges that “for too long, some communities, especially rural communities in Western and Central Massachusetts, have not received their fair share of this funding.” Yet in contrast to her swift decision to come up with over $200 million for hospitals and clinics across the state in the face of Trump’s healthcare cuts, she is slow-walking efforts to equitably redistribute the $54.7 million in PILOT funds by setting up a 19-member commission to evaluate “potential adjustments” to “ensure geographic fairness.”
Gov. Healey, here is a much simpler solution: Stop short-changing our rural communities in western and central Massachusetts by implementing uniform PILOT funding statewide, instead of basing them on local real estate values favoring richer communities.
This way you get to promote equity across the state at no cost to hard-pressed taxpayers. Furthermore, as President Trump declares climate change “this green scam” and cancels billions of dollars in renewable energy projects, we will take the lead in addressing our climate emergency by directing PILOT funds in accordance with their carbon-sequestering values, giving us all a ray of hope.
Stephen E. Harris
Political Economist
Technology Author and Consultant
Middlefield
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