Overview
- The Evanston Reparations Committee said 44 residents with selection numbers 121 through 171 will receive $25,000 each, with notification letters expected within about two weeks.
- City officials state the cash is designated for housing-related expenses, and recipients are being urged to have paperwork ready.
- Funded largely by a cannabis sales tax and a real estate transfer tax, the program reported $276,588 from the transfer tax and no philanthropic donations as of January 31.
- Members have discussed new revenue options such as taxing Delta-8 THC products, and Council member Krissie Harris emphasized payments occur as funds are available.
- Judicial Watch’s lawsuit challenging the program’s race-based eligibility under the Fourteenth Amendment remains pending as Evanston pursues its $10 million, ten-year commitment launched in 2019 and approved in 2021.