Numbers don’t lie — but they do shine a harsh light on how badly taxpayers have been taken to the cleaners.
Since its launch earlier this year, the Department of Government Efficiency has uncovered several instances of unemployment fraud, Medicaid overpayments and wasteful spending.
The latest numbers on Boston’s Payment in Lieu of Tax Program show a swath of tax-exempt colleges and hospitals sidestepping their full PILOT payments. They tout their community benefits, but shortchange actual cash going into city coffers.
And a deep dive into salaries at public broadcasting’s sacred cows GBH, PBS and NPR reveals a feast of fat-cat salaries.
Funded by you.
At PBS, President & CEO Patricia Harrison nabbed $523,616 a year, while CFO William Tayman Jr. eked by with $488,989. SVP Westwood Smithers Jr. was close behind with $488,919.
At NPR, President & CEO John Lansing (who died in 2024) garnered $590,252 while Steven Inskeep and Michel Martin, both senior hosts, got $532,188 and $485,929, respectively.
The locals are cleaning up. GBH president & CEO Jonathan Abbott earns $847,277, while executive producer Raney Aronson nabs $540,928 and Jim Braude, executive editor and host, makes do with $506,183. (He says his pay has recently been cut.)
That’s a lot of tote bags, which loom large in the myth of public TV and radio. These institutions are so hard up, we’re told, that they have to hold endless membership drives to raise cash.
Would they need to hold so many marathons of Andrea Bocelli and Dr. Daniel Amen if they trimmed some of those mega-salaries?
You won’t hear any arguments from the taxpayers who fund this largesse.
This is the sort of conduct that needs resisting, the kind of moves at the American people’s expense that spur protests. But you’ll never hear an outcry from the left.
Progressive pols decry corporate profits and executive salaries, accuse companies of price-gouging and taking money from the wallets of American families, but where is the Capitol Hill outrage over institutions avoiding taxes and using federal dollars to line the pockets of executives?
Crickets.
These are elite institutions, beloved by elites in power. Much like academia, they are all but untouchable. And when they do face consequences for their actions, say for slow-walking their response to antisemitism, they’re held up as heroes.
Boston homeowners who struggle with tax hikes are dealt a slap in the face when big hospitals and colleges skip out on $30.2 million owed to the city.
Letting hospitals get away with this literally adds insult to injury for those who face big hospital bills. Would touting a patient’s “contributions to the community” get the bill lowered? Don’t count on it.
As much as the left is silent, or indignant, about taxpayer abuse by spendthrift pols, taxpayers aren’t down for the count. The Coalition of the Fed Up staged their own resistance movement on Nov. 5, 2024.
Leftist politicians who ignore taxpayers’ pain and continue to regard them as ATMs for government programs should take heed. It’s one thing to shout slogans on Boston Common, it’s another to make one’s voice heard in the voting booth.
