Reality of Evanston's property taxes???

[uslims]

We are going on our 8th year living in Evanston, now with 3 kiddies. I live 3 block radius to basically everything so I'm spoiled by that, but not for free. Average prop tax is around 10K and district 65 school has issues before & more so since the new supritendant came over 5 or so years ago. Most of prop tax goes to supporting school and they just keep spending and spending. We are sending our kids to a private school. Can we afford it??? No! We want our vouchers! I believe in supporting public schools however, we are by no means rich but living in Evanston, be ready to support the "local level welfare". Don't even get me started about Cook County. Montana sounds good about now.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by uslims

We are going on our 8th year living in Evanston, now with 3 kiddies. I live 3 block radius to basically everything so I'm spoiled by that, but not for free. Average prop tax is around 10K and district 65 school has issues before & more so since the new supritendant came over 5 or so years ago. Most of prop tax goes to supporting school and they just keep spending and spending. We are sending our kids to a private school. Can we afford it??? No! We want our vouchers! I believe in supporting public schools however, we are by no means rich but living in Evanston, be ready to support the "local level welfare". Don't even get me started about Cook County. Montana sounds good about now.

...some one squeezed by the insanity of Evanston's taxes. hmm.

Of course too many posters here think that big police force, large public works department, TIF funded redevelopment and all the other goodies don't matter...

[Buckner Fan]

Evanston has very high taxes because about 1/4th of the town is off the tax rolls due to the fact that Northwestern University has swallowed up almost all the prime lakefront real estate. They do not pay any taxes to the city but, while they do have their own police department, they do not hesitate to use other city services when they need them. This means that the other 3/4 of the city has to pay high taxes to make up for the loss.

If the above is true, does this bother other Evanston residents? I may be renting in E-town; but if I owned, I would be frustrated by this. Doesn't NU get enough with their outrageous rates of tuition?

And should I move to E-town, I will proudly display my orange and blue University of Illinois colors. Go illini!

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Buckner Fan

Evanston has very high taxes because about 1/4th of the town is off the tax rolls due to the fact that Northwestern University has swallowed up almost all the prime lakefront real estate. They do not pay any taxes to the city but, while they do have their own police department, they do not hesitate to use other city services when they need them. This means that the other 3/4 of the city has to pay high taxes to make up for the loss.

If the above is true, does this bother other Evanston residents? I may be renting in E-town; but if I owned, I would be frustrated by this. Doesn't NU get enough with their outrageous rates of tuition?

And should I move to E-town, I will proudly display my orange and blue University of Illinois colors. Go illini!

My gut says that for every Northwestern related need the City of Evanston field they get about 50x that many requests for service elsewhere in town -- from road paving and sewers to fire, police, garbage et cetera the other parts of town need far more than the NU campus...

[Lookout Kid]

I'd be curious to see a break down of property tax expenditures for Evanston. I have no problem paying for public realm improvements like plantings, signage, improved parks, streetscaping, etc. And top-notch city services should be a priority. But my gut feeling tells me that Evanston is getting screwed with TIFs and welfare programs that don't work.

The NU factor does make a difference as well, as does the lack of any major businesses in the tax base.

Gutting the Cook County government could make a big difference... In a perfect world.

[Anthera]

Originally Posted by Buckner Fan

Evanston has very high taxes because about 1/4th of the town is off the tax rolls due to the fact that Northwestern University has swallowed up almost all the prime lakefront real estate. They do not pay any taxes to the city but, while they do have their own police department, they do not hesitate to use other city services when they need them. This means that the other 3/4 of the city has to pay high taxes to make up for the loss.

If the above is true, does this bother other Evanston residents? I may be renting in E-town; but if I owned, I would be frustrated by this. Doesn't NU get enough with their outrageous rates of tuition?

And should I move to E-town, I will proudly display my orange and blue University of Illinois colors. Go illini!

Because its not true NU has about 250 acres out of 5200 acres in Evanston. My math may be rusty, but I dont think thats 1/4.



Real estate taxes from properties sold by Northwestern to private owners since 1972 now generate more than $4 million annually for Evanston taxing bodies. (See related story on page 4.) The University, authorized to own 2,000 acres under its State of Illinois charter, now owns only 4.9 percent of all land in Evanston — 242.8 acres, 84 of which was created in the 1960s by filling in a portion of Lake Michigan.

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscent...5/economy.html