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Committee pushes for integrated PILOT database, single application and assessor collaboration
Summary
Members and presenters urged building an integrated PILOT database, creating a single-source application form and standardizing parcel IDs with the assessor to improve oversight and enable accurate measurements of foregone tax revenue.
Committee members and presenters agreed the primary barrier to meaningful PILOT oversight is data fragmentation: PILOT reports exist as PDFs with inconsistent parcel identifiers, the trustee uses contract billing numbers separate from assessor IDs, and extensions are tracked manually without a central dashboard.
Austin Harrison, a professor affiliated with the Research for Action Lab, said an "integrated database to me feels like a key way for us to actually understand what's going on here, and what actors are using the policy as necessary." Committee members proposed creating a single-source application that would collect essential PILOT information before individual boards act, releasing the PILOT report in Excel to facilitate analysis, and recruiting assessor representation to help standardize parcel ID formats. The chair emphasized the need for data, saying, "I've gotta have the data." The committee set tasks to recruit assessor staff, explore database options, and carry forward the creation goal in subsequent meetings.
