The argument over whether Yale’s not paying taxes outweighs the way it helps keep downtown New Haven vibrant ignores a huge issue in Connecticut: home rule cities. This debate wouldn’t be an issue if New Haven’s tax base included all the surrounding towns that benefit from New Haven without contributing, just like in Hartford. Right now, Yale is simultaneously a drain on the tax base and a source of employment, the arts, and spur to entertainment and nightlife that is great for the city. If city tax bases included suburbs that already benefit from our cities the whole debate goes away.