The following post is provided by Nick Giurleo, candidate for Medford City Council. His website can be found here – https://nickgformedford.com/ Our interview with Nick is at the bottom of the post.

Last week Nick was informed that the City of Medford cannot find a copy of the payment-in-lieu-of taxes (PILOT) agreement in effect between Medford and Tufts University.

As discussed in another post, Nick sent the City a public records request on August 6, 2025 asking for the PILOT agreement currently in effect between Medford and Tufts or, if no such agreement is currently in effect, the last agreement in effect.

The City responded on August 18th. Here is what they said:

“The City has no records responsive to your request in its possession, care, custody or control.”

Nick was extremely puzzled by this response. Was the city making the demonstrably false claim that there have never been any PILOT agreements in effect between Medford and Tufts? Or was it making an admission that it could not find copies of any agreement?

He decided to investigate further.

Nick sent two emails. The first was to the Assessor’s Office. The second was to the Treasurer-Collector’s Office. Each asked for information on the PILOT agreement in effect, if any, between Medford and Tufts.

The Treasurer-Collector’s Office has yet to respond now a full week later.

Chief Assessor Jared Yagjian has responded and stated that “[w]hile the City may not be able to find the actual documents that were signed with respect to Tufts PILOT payments agreements”, each fiscal year Tufts pays Medford $450,000 “for the campus” and $250,000 “for the newer construction Cummings Building on the corner of Boston Ave and College Ave.”

The Chief Assessor’s response indicates that a PILOT agreement is in fact in effect between Medford and Tufts and it is bifurcated, even if the city, for reasons currently unknown, cannot produce the agreement itself in response to a lawful public records request.

Nick then sent a letter to the Public Relations Department of Tufts University asking for comment on this matter. Associate Vice President of Government & Community Relations Rocco DiRico corroborated the $450,000 figure and claimed this was a 64% increase from 2018. Mr. DiRico also corroborated the $250,000 additional payment for the Cummings Center. Finally, Tufts denied that it does not pay property taxes to Medford and Somerville and cited the figure of $1,497,277 as an annual payment.

Mr. DiRico’s statement suggests that, like Somerville, Medford had a PILOT agreement that lasted until 2018 and that a new one was negotiated some time thereafter. But where is that agreement? Where are any of the PILOT agreements? It is completely unacceptable that the City of Medford cannot locate the PILOT agreements it has entered into with Tufts. How could the City lose contracts so critical to the public interest?

Nick will continue to investigate and consider legal options. Beside the financial figures, what other terms are in this agreement? Is it true that Tufts pays Medford and Somerville nearly $1.5 million in property taxes? If so, where is that money going?

When elected, Nick will work to ensure the public has access to information about the contracts the City has entered into. They should be uploaded to the City website and an easy download for everyone to view. Voters deserve to know what agreements our leaders have made us a party to and judge for themselves if these agreements are prudent.

Nick Giurleo’s facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575246882228 is updated constantly with solutions for his platform and what he will do at city hall if elected.