Penn’s band was wrapping up its halftime show, and moments before the third quarter was set to begin, protesters rushed the field, holding three banners:
“Save The UC Townhomes”
“Divest from Fossil Fuels”
“PAY PILOTs”

Incoming Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. must make identifying sources of sustained funding his highest priority… While PILOTs are voluntary, the superintendent and others are empowered to make an appeal to these institutions to ask them to voluntarily contribute. The practice of nonprofits making PILOTs to their municipal governments is not a new one. During Mayor Ed Rendell’s administration in the 1990s, Philadelphia nonprofits paid PILOTs to the city annually.

A group of students pushing the University of Pennsylvania to divest from fossil fuels among other demands rooted in environmental justice has set up tents on the College Green to share their message around the clock… Students also are calling on Penn to make Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) to help city schools, Glasser said. Penn in November 2020 announced it would donate $100 million over 10 years to the Philadelphia School District to remediate environmental hazards, including asbestos and lead. But that is not considered a PILOT.

When universities like Drexel and Penn cherry-pick the communities that they want to invest in, gentrification follows, and low-income families lose out.

There’s precedent for more direct financial contributions than loosely defined “community benefit”: After Penn for PILOTS drew attention to Penn’s lack of tax payments for years, Penn committed $100 million in 2020 to the Philadelphia School District.

Ten million per year represents about 10% of what Penn would owe in property taxes. In other cities like Boston, New Haven, Conn., and Providence, R.I., wealthy nonprofits have agreed to pay PILOTs above that standard. Many in Philadelphia have called on the university to pay 40% of what it would owe in property taxes to the public schools — an estimated $40 million per year. That’s a reasonable figure. Other nonprofits should also step up so that Philadelphia’s public schools have the money needed to educate the next generation.

“The chronic underfunding of the Philadelphia Public Schools cannot be resolved with a limited commitment of 10 annual payments,” the group, Penn For PILOTS, said in a statement.

“We know anything we give can’t compare at all with the magnitude that Penn paying PILOTs [payments in lieu of taxes] would have,” said Keri Zhang, editor and chief of the student-run Penn yearbook. “Hopefully, we can make some small steps that build toward real impact.”

Penn and other big tax-exempt nonprofits do not have unlimited funds especially amid the COVID-19 crisis; endowments carry restrictions and stewardship requirements. But asking them to directly invest in public education in their hometown is a reasonable request deserving more than stony silence. A lively conversation about PILOTs for nonprofits is already underway. It’s time for Penn and other big players to be part of it.