Northwestern is always the 800-pound gorilla in the corner of the Evanston City Council chambers during budget season. Many aldermen seem to think that if they get rid of the gorilla, their problems would be solved.
This year they could try to gas him.
Evanston has reason to be jealous of NU’s money — and probably always will — because the university’s charter from the state exempts it from paying property taxes. Aldermen and activists have said for years that the university ought to pay its fair share for the city services students and staff enjoy. NU argues its nonprofit status and contribution to the economy more than justify the exemption.
No matter who’s right, it’s hard for aldermen to turn down a roundabout chance to tax the university when programs are on the cutting board. This year that chance is a proposed change in taxes on natural gas.
Right now NU — as well as many businesses and some homeowners — avoid a significant chunk of taxes by purchasing gas from out-of-state brokers instead of the city’s official provider, Nicor, Inc. Non-Nicor users avoid the city’s gas-utility tax but pay their brokers more for gas in the first place. The city estimates that if the gas-utility tax was applied to everyone, it could generate an extra $600,000 in revenue.
The city first considered the proposal in October but gave up after businesses objected. Now the idea has resurfaced in City Manager Roger Crum’s proposed budget. He said that although the city could use the money, the fundamental issue is fairness: Though single-family homeowners can switch from Nicor, businesses currently get most of the tax break.
“We don’t hide the fact that it does raise money,” Crum said. “But it is equitable in our opinion.”
Northwestern, one of the city’s largest users of natural gas from brokers, would be affected in kind. Eugene Sunshine, senior vice president of business and finance, said $100,000 to $200,000 of the revenue generated by the tax would probably come from the university.
Last year’s attempt to wring money from the university, a proposed hike in fees on rooming house licenses, would have affected students directly through increased housing costs and expenses for fraternities and sororities. Sunshine said though NU could absorb the cost of a gas tax, it could hurt students, too.
“Money is money and the university has a number of different pots from which expenditures can be made,” he said.
He also pointed out that local businesses would still pay a majority of the tax.
“We’re the tail, not the dog, on this one,” he said.
Sunshine said NU is still considering how to handle the proposal.
Although Crum said the proposed increase was not meant to target the university, its potential impact cannot be ignored. The city is doing the right thing in trying to defend single-family homeowners, but there is no need to pit them against NU. By delaying this proposal until budget season, when the university’s money is on everybody’s mind, that conflict seems almost inevitable.
In October the gas tax proposal was a technicality, and for most residents, only principles were at stake. Now it will be portrayed as a way to break NU’s coffers and save city programs in a time of crisis.
That’s unfair. Whether they should pay more in gas taxes or not, the university did not cause Evanston’s budget problems. If homeowners want to pay less in taxes, they should show up at budget meetings and oppose the vocal minorities that present the council from cutting a single program from their budget every year. Those meetings start this Saturday.
The gorilla will still be there — but remember, he’s not the one who cashes the tax checks.
Andy Nelson is a Medill sophomore. He can be reached at [email protected].
