Northwestern, Evanston Set For Research Park Property Tax Deal

EVANSTON, IL — The Evanston City Council's Administration and Public Works Committee is scheduled to take action on a memorandum of understanding with Northwestern University extending and formalizing a commitment by the university to make voluntary payments to compensate the city for lost property tax revenue when the tax-exempt institution purchases additional land in Evanston's Research Park district.

Northwestern contributes $350,000 per year in connection with its properties at 1840 Oak Ave., 2522 Orrington Ave. and 630 Clinton Pl., as of a January 2017 agreement with the city. At the time, the university said it wanted to protect city revenues and show its commitment to local schools. The City Council went on to adopt an ordinance committing to distribute to District 65 and District 202 an equal amount of money as the districts would have received if the properties continue to pay property taxes.

The ordinance and memorandum up for a vote Monday would memorialize the agreement between the school and the city and allow for future changes in the amount of the payments if property taxes are modified or if Northwestern buys more land in the district, which is bounded by the CTA and Metra tracks to its east and west, Emerson Street to the north and Davis Street to the south.

Read below the complete MOU and staff memos including background about the Northwestern University/Evanston Research Park:

_{Top photo: Research Park zoning district | City of Evanston}