by Jim Geller ·
Friday, December 12, 2025
As a Devens resident, I have followed the discussions of the Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee (HDJC) as it positions itself to make a positive case for reacquiring their former lands at Devens.
Harvard is a charming rural and residential town by long-standing design and practice, heavily dependent on its residential property taxes to fund the town’s expenses, and now faces annual tax override votes if nothing changes. Devens, to the contrary, has been redeveloped primarily to attract and retain commercial and industrial businesses, along with limited residential development. The HDJC views Devens as a means by which Harvard can stabilize its tax rates. Harvard wants from Devens what Harvard has not done for itself.
Harvard and Devens are two fundamentally different entities. Harvard generates more than 90% of its revenues from its residential base; Devens generates more than 90% of its revenues from its commercial and industrial base. Any arguments that acquiring Devens will solve Harvard’s tax rate problems must either believe that Devens’ current tax rates generate revenue in excess of what is required to run the day-to-day operations of Devens; or that MassDevelopment is overpaying for services and Harvard can more efficiently provide those services; or that the level of services can be cut. For the reacquisition of Devens to make financial sense for Harvard, Harvard has to be able to transfer revenues from Devens to Harvard.
Just as residents of Harvard have elected to make Harvard their home for what Harvard provides, so have the residents and businesses of Devens elected to be part of Devens for what Devens provides. If Devens were to become part of Harvard, the residents and businesses of Devens would be forced to subsidize the decisions Harvard has made over the years which have preserved its rural character and limited its growth. The last property tax bill I paid was based on a tax rate of $12.55 per $1,000. Harvard’s tax rate is $15.65 per $1,000, a 24.7% increase over the Devens rate.
Devens can pay its own way, as should Harvard. My advice to Harvard is to stop looking at Devens as a pot of gold and focus on what Harvard should do within its own current boundaries to solve its revenue problems. I elected to move to Devens 20 years ago, not Harvard.
Jim Geller,
Walnut Street, Devens