Wheaton Wire

I don't see Wheaton ever being required to pay local taxes, unless some larger institution was to set legal precedent through the judicial process. That's a long way off. I would say that this sort of hubbub is exactly the kind of thing that puts political pressure on colleges and universities to come to less formal sorts of agreements in lieu of taxes. Harvard is, of course, the example. It pays a massive sum to Cambridge every year, because if it did not there would be little revenue available for town upkeep. Harvard simply owns too much of the would-be tax base. Norton is known as a "bedroom town," and Wheaton has to be its largest employer, but I can't see a case being made that Wheaton dominates Norton spatially. That said, it would be unsurprising to see Wheaton make "gifts" to the town in the future.