Our towns in Western Mass. are shortchanged under the reimbursement formula for state-owned land

Our towns in Western Mass. are shortchanged under the reimbursement formula for state-owned land

PAYMENT IN LIEU of taxes, or PILOT, provides reimbursement to towns and cities for lost revenues from tax-exempt land and property within their boundaries. In rural parts of the state, a major source of PILOT reimbursements are state forests.  Reimbursement payments to towns are based on a complicated formula, which has changed over the years, that includes the appraised value of the property and the latest three-year statewide average tax rate.…