A Northwestern-commissioned study released last week found the university has a “significant positive” economic impact on Evanston’s businesses, but it might not change the attitudes of some residents agitated by NU’s exemption from property taxes.
The consulting firm Bay Area Economics – which conducted the study based on the 2004 fiscal year – found that NU’s presence generated between $145 million and $175 million for Evanston’s economy through payments to the city government, university purchases from Evanston businesses and spending by students, faculty, staff and visitors, which was estimated using surveys.
The city provides about $4 million to $5 million in services to the university, mainly for sewer and water maintenance, fire protection, and street and sidewalk maintenance, according to the report. NU provides most of its other services, including policing. The study also estimated that the university pays about $8 million directly to the city government.
“We hope that people would read this report and realize that yes, there are some costs such as fire service that Northwestern does not cover, but that’s similar to any other not-for-profit in the community,” said Lucile Krasnow, NU’s special assistant for community relations. “In a tremendous way, the pluses outweigh the burdens.”
Alan Cubbage, vice president of university relations, said critics of NU’s presence are seldom aware of the facts and that he hoped the study would inform their discussions on the subject.
But some remain skeptical, calling the study deceptive and full of spin.
“It’s another PR job,” said Evanston resident Vito Brugliera, McCormick ’55. “That $145 million is misleading. A lot of that is retail sales, and the city does not gain directly from that.”
Although both he and his wife are NU alumni, Brugliera said he was sorry that “the administration seems to treat Evanston as a feudal kingdom with we citizens as vassals.”
Brugliera said he’s done his own studies, finding that if NU property were converted into homes, the city would gain about $3 million in property taxes.
“Northwestern is ultimately a burden on the citizens of Evanston,” he said.
Former Ninth Ward aldermanic candidate Mimi Peterson also dismissed the study as “tired, regurgitated propaganda.”
Peterson said the university’s paying for the study is telling, since studies done in the past by other parties came to different conclusions.
“It doesn’t account for the fact that (NU) doesn’t contribute to the tax base,” she said. “Everybody pays sales tax. Everybody pays sewer tax. Adding up sales tax dollars that are spent by students is a little silly.”
City Manager Julia Carroll said it could be easy to present statistics in a misleading way. She said the $8 million paid to the city included services that every business in town pays for.
“It’s not that they’re paying us for something we wouldn’t charge for any other organization,” she said. “It all depends on how you capture that information. Statistics is something that you have to understand the underlying data to know the full impact of.”
Cubbage said the numbers were “solid” and that although some of the economic impact couldn’t be ascertained to the exact dollar, the study presented both high and low estimates.
Still, even solid numbers won’t budge some opinions, said Dick Peach, a board member of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce.
“What you have in town is a group of people who already believe NU is a positive influence and then you have another group who thinks they don’t do a damn thing,” Peach said. “I don’t think either group will change their minds over a study.”
Instead of dwelling on Northwestern’s economic impact, Evanston should take advantage of the university intellectually, such as having it help balance city budgets, he said.
“It’s an intellectual bank, not a financial bank,” Peach said.
Reach Jenny Song at [email protected].
