Rhode Island Hospital’s parent company paid its CEO $9.5 million in 2009, but the industry’s top lobbyist says that doesn’t mean Providence’s hospitals can afford to start contributing money to the city budget. Like the colleges, the hospitals point to their positive economic impact on Providence and the state [
pdf], as well as their comparatively strong prospects for growth, in arguing they shouldn’t be forced to fork over as much money to the city budget as Taveras wants. All but three of Boston’s 12 tax-exempt medical institutions made voluntary payments to the Massachusetts capital as of fiscal 2009, according to a study by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. The size of the payments ranged between $2.2 million from Mass. General and $77,534 from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. “Boston has one of the longest standing [payment in lieu of taxes] programs and the most revenue productive program in the country,” the study found. Boston got $15.7 million from its tax-exempts in fiscal 2009. That was less than 1% of the city’s annual budget and 4.3% of what they would have paid under the commercial property tax rate, the study said.
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