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UPDATE: This story was updated at 2:00 p.m. on Feb. 25, 2026.

Since 2022, Syracuse University has spent more than $140 million acquiring restaurants, apartment buildings and educational facilities, expanding its campus further into the city.

Thanks to SU’s status as a nonprofit institution, some of those newly purchased properties may qualify for tax exemption. This effectively shields the school from the terror of paying for the community resources it relies on.

Currently, SU’s fiscal year 2025 financial statements reported the university holds $1 billion in property. Fifty-one percent of that property goes untaxed, Maurice “Mo” Brown, Onondaga County legislator for the 15th district, said. If the university’s $1.7 billion in property were fully taxable, it would generate an estimated $49 million in annual property tax revenue, making the university the single largest contributor in the city.

This has left the city of Syracuse and its inhabitants to foot the rest of the bill.

SU owns approximately 0.87 square miles, or 560.25 acres, within the city of Syracuse, which is reported to be 25.1 square miles of land, a university spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Daily Orange.

“Of this, 77.09 acres have either no exemption or only partial tax exemption. The taxable acreage includes properties that are subject to ground leases where the private developer is responsible for property taxes, Drumlins, and parcels with limited taxable components,” the spokesperson wrote.

In 2011, SU entered a service agreement with the city, voluntarily contributing $500,000 annually in an attempt to soften the blow of lost revenue. Since that initial agreement 15 years ago, the school’s yearly contribution has increased to $2.2 million, totaling $11 million over five years.

Although this may seem like an inspiring step forward, SU still only pays a fraction of what they would owe without its nonprofit status. Yale University, for example, pays $20 to$25 million every year to the city of New Haven, a stark contrast to SU’s insultingly low $2.2 million. To its credit, Yale holds the second-largest endowment in the U.S., standing at $44 billion compared to SU’s $2.1 billion.

But this difference shouldn’t stop Syracuse from holding its own university accountable.

It seems as though SU feels both comfortable and entitled to take advantage of the city, using its fire, police and environmental resources at a heavily discounted rate. Meanwhile, the city itself is forced to fight an uphill economic battle, with expenditures steadily rising and its revenue remaining stagnant. As a result, tax rates are bound to increase.

“We do have a tax exempt property crisis,” city of Syracuse Auditor Alex Marion wrote in a report on the city’s budget.

Today, the taxable half of the city faces a staggering effective property tax rate of 1.825%, well above the national median and the 28th highest among United States cities. Extreme taxes are nothing new here either. Syracuse and the greater Syracuse area have consistently ranked near the top nationwide when it comes to property taxes.

These high property tax rates aren’t just a consequence of a city overwhelmed by tax-exempt properties. Instead, it’s SU’s attempt at scamming the city of Syracuse, allowing its rapacious tendencies to dictate what it will and won’t contribute money to.

With an operating revenue of $1.4 billion and its sizable endowment of $2.2 billion, the school has no excuse for its lackluster contributions. It’s seemingly indifferent to any negative effects the institution and its assets may have on the greater area.

I find it unlikely that SU wants to give back to Syracuse, the city it so carelessly takes from. Especially today, as the university is generating more revenue than at any point in history.

It has become increasingly important for us students to be aware of the issues plaguing our city, economic and otherwise. SU has made it clear that it won’t help Syracuse unless it has to. As students, it’s easy to overlook what’s happening off campus.

SU’s recent expansion, combined with its reluctance to pay more than $2 to $3 million a year, should sound alarm bells. The university has the resources to pay the city what it owes, yet it focuses on its own wealth rather than supporting the community it owes so much.

CLARIFICATION: This article has been updated with a new headline and information from an SU spokespeson regarding which pieces of SU’s land is tax-exempt.

James Reed is a freshman studying political science. He can be reached at jcreed@syr.edu.

Published on February 23, 2026 at 11:16 pm