Boston Mayor Tom Menino has lately been shaking down major tax-exempt institutions with his “payment in lieu of taxes,” or PILOT, program – with mixed results and mixed reviews.

Regarding the latter, here’s the Boston Globe’s Saturday report:

Nonprofits boosting Boston’s coffers

Boston nonprofits have boosted their voluntary contributions to city government over the past six months by 24 percent, advancing a longstanding goal of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, despite the misgivings of some institutions.

Since July, the city has received $9.4 million from tax-exempt institutions such as colleges, hospitals, and museums, a substantial increase over last year’s pace, according to the mayor’s office.

By contrast, the Buzzkill – sorry, Boston – Herald says this:

Several institutions snub Hub on voluntary payments

More than a dozen colleges and other major tax-exempt institutions have thumbed their noses at Mayor Thomas M. Menino, refusing to shell out even a single dime in voluntary payments requested by the Hub to pay for their fair share of city services, a Herald review found.

The Herald piece later notes this: “All told, the city collected $16.7 million in PILOT payments for the first half of fiscal year 2012, but more than $2 million in requested payments have gone unpaid, according to city records.”

So, to summarize:

Boston Globe: Glass 8/9ths full.

Boston Herald: Glass 1/9th empty.

Gotta love a two-daily town.

P.S. No Herald link because its website is a Crash Browser Dummy.