Should Public-Private Dorms at UMass Pay Property Tax?
Fieldstone Apartments, UMass Amherst. Photo: Google Maps
Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Finance Committee, September 2, 2025
This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.
Present
Cathy Schoen (District 1, Chair), Mandi Jo Hanneke and Andy Steinberg (at large), Bob Hegner (District 5), Tom Porter (nonvoting resident member). Absent: Ellisha Walker (at large) and Joseph Jayne (nonvoting resident member)
Staff: Paul Bockelman (Town Manager), Athena O’Keeffe (Clerk of Town Council)
The Finance Committee raised the question of whether the dorms built on UMass-owned land by a private developer should pay property tax on the building, even though the land is tax free. Fieldstone Apartments, which opened last fall at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue in the heart of the UMass campus, was constructed by Axium Infrastructure of New York City and Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions of Philadelphia on university-owned property. The complex houses 623 undergraduates and 201 graduate students, and has a café and wellness center operated by UMass that are open to all enrolled students.
These dorms are run by for-profit entities, so Finance Committee members asked if they should be taxed. The completed private dorm constructed by Archipelago Investments on Olympia Drive on land purchased from a fraternity has been assessed at $18.5 million and does pay real estate tax. Although there are other public-private partnerships on campuses, Finance Committee Chair Cathy Schoen was unable to find any other example in Massachusetts that was taxed. Town Manager Paul Bockelman thought there might be a similar project at UMass Boston.
The committee thought the topic was worth investigating and will get legal advice and the opinion of Town Assessor Kim Mew. Bockelman said he thought that Fieldstone was constructed with the idea that it would not be taxed, and he expected a legal fight if the town tried to impose a tax.
Financial Indicators Hinge on Union Contracts and Health Insurance Costs
The Finance Committee was anxious to begin working on the FY2027 Financial indicators, and asked departments to report on their projections for the coming fiscal year, so that the committee could determine if there should be an across-the-board increase for all departments or differential increases based on need.
Bockelman said that a great deal hinges on the yet-to-be settled union contracts and health insurance costs, and that it would be good to know if other factors were involved, such as the loss of federal funding. He suggested that if a priority was fixing the town’s roads and sidewalks, an override should not be taken off the table.
Mandi Jo Hanneke suggested that we compare the tax bill with the services provided in Amherst relative to similar towns, and that it may be necessary to provide fewer services.
Andy Steinberg noted that an override would be difficult to sell, because Amherst residents already pay the 14th highest rate of property taxes in the state, and so much of our property is not taxable. He recalled the March 2025 presentation by Town Engineer Jason Skeels that estimated that it would require $3 million more a year to maintain the roads in their current condition and $5 million more to improve them. He recommended putting out these facts to support the idea of an override.
Mandi Jo Hanneke suggested that we compare the tax bill with the services provided in Amherst relative to similar towns, and that it may be necessary to provide fewer services. Resident member Tom Porter agreed that the town may need to decide how much we can afford for services.
Schoen suggested using some of the capital stabilization fund to take pressure off of the operating budget, especially for the construction of a new DPW building, but also for some road repair. These discussions will continue at the next Finance Committee meeting in two weeks.
Here’s some background on the cost of public vs. public/private housing at UMass.
The private -public dorm at Fieldstone is privately managed and rooms rent at market rate. Rates in Fieldstone for this academic year are $1923 – $2608 / bedroom/month on an 11 month lease. More info here: https://offcampushousing.umass.edu/housing/property/fieldstone-slate-undergraduate-housing/5f3rx2q
The room rate for UMass owned/managed dorms vary by the dorm with North Apartments being the most expensive. A standard room in the UMass dorms is $4367 /semester for a shared double or $5,751 for a single. This comes to $1040 /bedroom /month if shared and $1278/bedroom/month for a single and comes with the added advantage that you do not have to lease over the summer, and can also lease for only one term if you will not be on campus for both terms. The dorms lack some of the amenities of Fieldstone (like an on-site gym) but are considerably cheaper. Most UMass dorms are closed over breaks and require students to vacate and pay an additional fee for housing on campus during the break. More pricing information here: https://www.umass.edu/living/your-residential-experience/room-rates-fees
The idea under exploration of Amherst collecting property taxes on the new private-public dorms on the UMass Amherst campus will quickly evolve into a legislative conversation. Hopefully our local legislators will be on the right side of Amherst in this exchange.
For years, the idea of a public-private partnership to build housing on UMass land was publicly discussed–and always with the idea that the privately-owned buildings would be taxed and add to Amherst coffers. I am surprised to learn that the Fieldstone buildings are not being taxed. As far as I know, the buildings are not owned by the state and are not being operated by the university, so why aren’t they being taxed? If a company owned a building selling shoes on campus or making batteries, wouldn’t they be taxed based on market value or income? Can anyone build anything on campus and not be taxed? I definitely need to know more.
Non students who eat in University dining halls pay meals tax, and those staying at the Campus Hotel are taxed as well. I don’t understand why the companies collecting rent for the rooms at Fieldstone are not paying tax as well.
How much do these properties cost the town in tax-payer provided services? Roads, fire, police….
If the buildings are privately owned, absolutely the owner should pay property taxes. Does the building owner rely on any town services such as ambulance response, fire department, police, town streets?
For all the talk about affordable housing and the availability of housing, I think that the biggest scandal involves what UM did — Lincoln Apts had 105 units — how many does Greystone have?
North Village had 240 units — University Village replaced it with 140 units — 100 less.
And they more than doubled the rents.
It took 35 years, but UMass has now managed to totally abandon the concept of being an affordable option for the people of Massachusetts. That’s a social justice issue….