CHICAGO URBAN DAILY
CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— Mayor Brandon Johnson is taking $20 million out of a fund that sat dormant — and putting it to work for the neighborhoods it was supposed to help all along.
Johnson announced Tuesday that the remaining $20 million from the Community Catalyst Fund will go into the Building Up Independent Local Developers fund, known as BUILD, to support entrepreneurs, developers and small businesses.
The backstory is the headline here. The city’s Office of Inspector General discovered more than $57 million sitting in the dormant fund earlier this year. More than $37 million of it was already folded into the mayor’s $17.6 billion budget plan for fiscal year 2027, released last week. This $20 million is what’s left — and now it has a job.
The move followed City Council approval of City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin’s request to return the catalyst fund’s assets to general funds. At a press conference with the mayor Tuesday, Conyears-Ervin said her responsibility goes beyond managing public dollars.
“And that means being responsible of taxpayer dollars while also supporting our small businesses and developers and creating opportunities, especially for those that have historically faced barriers,” she said.
Johnson said BUILD will prioritize investments “that make a real difference in people’s lives, including community centers, recreational spaces, educational and health facilities, and other resources that help families and neighborhoods.” The investments would include below-market loans, and the administration would work to transfer vacant parcels to responsible developers.
Johnson was blunt about why the old fund failed. Created in 2016 with the promise of bringing private investment to disinvested neighborhoods, he said, “it subverts itself” — because traditional financing sources refuse to consider South and West Side projects good investments, yet the fund required projects to be selected using those same traditional criteria.
The announcement lands as budget hearings continue at City Hall this week, with the Police Department’s hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily as the budget fight moves through Council.
Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.
