The University will pay both Somerville and Medford $1.25 million dollars over the next 10 years, as well as $300,000 each in need-based financial aid for students from the two cities, along with several other partnership benefits.
The University is hailing the agreement as a leap in town-gown relations, but Medford and Somerville has insisted that points of friction - such as noise complaints and public drinking - will be dealt with on an individual basis in the future.
University President Lawrence Bacow announced the new partnership with Tufts' host communities last May.
"This [pledge] far exceeds any amount of money that we've ever received from Tufts," Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone said.
Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn said that the announcement made was the conclusion of many meetings with Tufts administrators. "Historically, the [Medford City Council] has always asked for more money from Tufts - certainly we want all the money we can get for our city, but we came to an agreement on these prices because it was a great step forward," he said.
The agreement is consistent with those that have been negotiated by other major Boston-area universities, but its comprehensiveness is unique, according to Dean of the University College Rob Hollister. The agreement calls for the continued and increased participation of the University College in Medford and Somerville.
"An impressive and distinctive feature is it comprehensive nature - combining financial payments, financial aid to undergraduate students from local cities, and community service," he said. "This inclusive framework helps the individual pieces to reinforce each other."
The May 24 announcement also called for increased representation of qualified Medford and Somerville students at Tufts. Additionally, the costs will be reduced for Somerville and Medford residents who audit courses at the University, lowering the fee from $600 to $100 per course.
On July 1, Somerville and Medford received the first checks for $250,000 and $350,000, respectively. Medford received a slightly larger amount this year due to an immediate budget crunch.
A previous concern of the administration was that if the school began to give financial help to Somerville and Medford, they would need to give funds to the other municipalities with Tufts campuses.
Tufts Director of Community Relations Barbara Rubel said that Grafton, the site of the Tufts Veterinary School, and Chinatown, the location of the Health Sciences campus, are not being left behind.
"Each of Tufts' campuses has different issues with its host communities. It's impossible to compare these municipalities to one another and so the University works with them individually," she said. "In Chinatown, Tufts contributed to the development of a new YMCA as part of a negotiated community benefits package. In Grafton, the Vet School performs services and makes occasional donations to the town."
Like other institutions of higher education, Tufts is tax-exempt and not obliged to make financial donations to its host communities. Many institutions, however, do make Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs). PILOTs are calculated by totalling the per-student charge for town services. The pledge made in May, however, was not calculated in this manner.
"Our partnership is not circumventing a PILOT," Rubel said. "It was a genuine effort to highlight and formalize the ways we work together with our host communities. Tufts uses city services such as fire, police, [and the Department of Public Works]."
"Tufts also contributes to the local communities - our students shop, dine, and bank in them. Faculty and students participate in city programs and [the cities] use University facilities for community events," she said. "It is a mutually beneficial relationship. A strict formulaic calculation would not have captured many of these factors."
According to Rubel, the financial pledge "opens up the avenues of communication on important projects that are essential to Tufts' future."
One such project is a proposed undergraduate dormitory, Sophia Gordon Hall, which would help alleviate the housing crunch on campus. Ground was broken for the building in the summer of 2003, but construction stalled after the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission (SHPC) objected to the destruction of 20 Professor's Row, where Tufts' first president once lived.
According to Curtatone, the SHPC and the City of Somerville will not back down on the matter of preserving the old building, but have managed to find a middle ground with the University.
"There are new architects revisiting the Gordon project now that we're happy with because they will preserve the old buildings," Curtatone said. "Tufts has embraced the historical value that those properties have and that's just a fine example of how the president and his administration understand the community's needs."
Curtatone said that the City of Somerville will be working together with the University on the new master plan for the Medford/Somerville campus.
As far as student complaints last semester that the Somerville Police Department (SPD) was intruding on Tufts University Police Department's (TUPD) jurisdiction by making on-campus arrests and patrols, Curtatone said that the SPD is just doing its job.
"We want to protect the neighborhoods of Somerville and Tufts is part of the neighborhood," he said.
McGlynn said he has met with Rubel and Captain Mark Keith of the TUPD on the subject. "I want to make sure everyone's enjoying themselves and having a good time but they can't step on the rights of their neighbors," he said.
One of the biggest problems in the University's town-gown relations is noise complaints filed by neighbors of Tufts students living off-campus in Somerville and Medford.
But recent work done by Medford and Somerville in and around the Tufts campus has highlighted the positive relationship between the University and its host communities.
The City of Medford re-paved Capen St. three years ago and fixed a number of other streets, sidewalks, and water pipes used by the Tufts community, McGlynn said.
Curtatone said that the City of Somerville re-paved College Ave. over the summer holiday and has engaged in the beautification of Powderhouse Sq. in order "to make sure that the area around the University is always up to an acceptable standard."
Hollister is excited to keep up the standard of the University College's participation as well.
The University College currently provides staff and financial assistance to several partner organizations engaged in community activities in Somerville and Medford, such as Tufts Literacy Corps, Jumpstart, the Leonard Carmichael Society, Hillel, and the Science Elementary School Partnership.
"The University College looks forward to participating by sustaining and expanding its current community partnership programs," Hollister said.
Though these are the largest gifts ever pledged to Medford and Somerville, they are not the first financial gifts given to the cities by the University, which is the largest employer in both.
According to Rubel, Tufts has been giving $25,000 annually to Somerville in remuneration for the City's tax loss when the University bought Western Junior High School in 1985.
Curtatone said Somerville will continue to receive the $25,000 yearly payment.
Medford has been receiving financial gifts from Tufts in a different way. "We've gone for larger chunks of money that were not given on a yearly basis," McGlynn said. He mentioned a $150,000 donation for neighbourhood improvement and $250,000 for the Capen St. Park.
