1. Landlords must pay interest each year on security deposits (effective 11/6/86) and prepaid rent (effective 1/1/92) held more than 6 months. The rates vary each year, but for buildings containing 25 units or more, the Illinois state rate of .25% is applicable.

2. To build a fence, you must do the following: a) obtain a fence permit; b) complete it and sign a Building Permit Application and a Fence Worksheet; c) attach 3 copies of a current plat of survey, each marked with the location of the proposed fence; d) submit these documents to the Building Office on the 3rd floor of the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center.

3. Alleys vary in ownership, from City to private. Contact the Engineering Division at 847-866-2940 to determine the ownership of an alley.

4. In order to place a moving container on your street, contact 311 or 847-448-4311 at least 4 business days in advance to obtain a right-of-way permit.

5. Public drinking fountains are turned on by May 31.

6. The finished tap water from the Evanston Water Utility is considered moderately hard at 7.7 grains per gallon or 130 parts per million. At this level, a water softener is typically not necessary.

7. Andres Medical Billing handles all the ambulance billing for the City of Evanston. Their phone number is 847-577-8811.

8. If you have a handicapped or persons-with-disabilities placard in your car, generally you do not need to pay the meter. The Illinois Vehicle Code says that vehicles properly displaying a disability parking placard are exempt from parking meter fees and time limitations, except at meters, signs, or other markings with time limitations of 30 minutes or less.

9. To get information on the heights of bridges in Evanston, view and print Evanston's truck route map with viaduct heights at Truck Route Map.

10. Evanston has 6 Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts. They are Downtown (District 1), Washington National (District 4), Howard and Ridge (District 5), Howard and Hartrey (District 3), Southwest (District 2), and West Evanston (District 6). District 6 is by far the largest in territory.