Editing Evanston, Illinois (section)

==University relations==
[[File:Northwestern Arch.jpg|thumb|right|"The Arch", the main entrance to the Evanston campus of [[Northwestern University]]]]

A perennial debate in Evanston is the issue of Northwestern University's status as a tax-exempt institution.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.northwestern.edu/controller/tax/tax-exempt-status.html|title=Tax Exempt Status: Office of the Controller - Northwestern University|access-date=June 5, 2020|archive-date=June 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605022059/https://www.northwestern.edu/controller/tax/tax-exempt-status.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In the founding charter of Northwestern University, signed in 1851, the state granted the school an exemption from paying property taxes, and unlike other well-off private universities with statutory exemptions,<ref>{{cite news | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2D6173EF93BA15752C1A966958260 | title = Harvard Will Pay More To Cambridge in Accord | work = The New York Times | date = November 28, 1990 | access-date = May 2, 2010 | archive-date = September 30, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230930085405/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/28/news/harvard-will-pay-more-to-cambridge-in-accord.html | url-status = live }}</ref> it provides its own police services, but not firefighter/paramedic services. It pays water, sewer, communications, real property transfer taxes, and building permit fees, but not property taxes. Northwestern does not make Payments in Lieu of Taxes for the real estate it removes from property tax rolls.

Its backers, like former Evanston mayor and Northwestern alumna Lorraine H. Morton, contend that the benefits of having an elite research institution justify Northwestern's tax status.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nu Celebrates Landmark Birthday|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2000/10/22/nu-celebrates-landmark-birthday/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=October 22, 2000|first=J Linn|last=Allen|access-date=July 16, 2013|archive-date=March 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301093430/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2000-10-22/news/0010220428_1_postal-card-postal-service-celebration|url-status=live}}</ref> These supporters highlight the fact that Northwestern University is the largest employer in Evanston,<ref>[[Evanston, Illinois#Top employers]]</ref> and that its students and faculty constitute a large consumer base for Evanston businesses. This controversy was revived in 2003 when the university purchased an eight-story office building downtown, removing it from the tax rolls. An advisory referendum put on the April elections ballot, dubbed by supporters as a "Fair Share Initiative", received a majority, but was not passed into ordinance by the City Council.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

During the tenure of Elizabeth Tisdahl as mayor, relationships between the university and Evanston improved. Upon arriving at Northwestern in 2009 president [[Morton O. Schapiro]] forged a strong working relationship with Tisdahl;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2010-04-04-ct-biz-0404-chicago-confidential-20100404-story.html|title=Evanston, Northwestern tensions crumble after cookie gambit|last=Harris|first=Melissa|website=chicagotribune.com|date=April 4, 2010|access-date=May 4, 2019|archive-date=April 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428002502/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2010-04-04-ct-biz-0404-chicago-confidential-20100404-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> in 2015, the two announced that Northwestern would begin to donate $1 million annually to benefit city services and programs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/evanston/news/ct-evr-nu-city-fund-tl-1015-20151013-story.html|title=Evanston, Northwestern announce details of $1 million donation|last=Seidenberg|first=Bob|website=chicagotribune.com|date=October 13, 2015|access-date=May 4, 2019|archive-date=May 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504215006/https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/evanston/news/ct-evr-nu-city-fund-tl-1015-20151013-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>