Universal Basic Income Pilot Included In Annual Northwestern Gift

EVANSTON, IL — A universal basic income pilot program is among the projects set to receive funding as part of Northwestern University's annual $1 million contribution to the city of Evanston.

The university will also finance a new business incubator intended to provide minority entrepreneurs with access to capital and other resources, city and university officials announced Monday in a joint statement.

The Good Neighbor Fund launched in 2015 with a five-year commitment by the university to fund projects and services in the city — without describing it as payments in lieu of taxes.

Each year since, funding allocations have been determined privately by Northwestern University President Morty Schapiro and Evanston Mayors Liz Tisdahl and, later, Steve Hagerty.

In July 2020, the Good Neighbor Fund was rebranded as the Good Neighbor Racial Equity Fund, as officials announced plans to direct the university's annual gift toward "programs that dismantle systemic barriers faced by historically marginalized communities in Evanston."

University officials simultaneously launched a separate $500,000 grant program for partnerships between university representatives and community organizations in Chicago and Evanston. Applications for grants of between $25,000 to $75,000 from the program were due last month and are under review by university officials.

“For the past five years, Northwestern and the City of Evanston have enjoyed a wonderful partnership that has improved the quality of life for so many,” said Schapiro, who last week announced plans to step down next year, in a release. “This year, we believe it’s crucial to focus on addressing historic social and racial injustices and their ongoing effects on our community. I believe this is how we can all make our greatest impact for the long-term health of our city.”

According to the joint statement, $400,000 in funding will go to a joint project between the city, university and local business associations to offer non-white entrepreneurs with help growing their businesses.

The second-largest allocation, $300,000, has been set aside as "seed money" for a guaranteed income pilot program. The local experiment with a universal basic income program will provide direct monthly cash payments to a limited number of low-income Evanston households.

Another $100,000 will go to consulting services to make the delivery of services to the community more equitable.

The remaining $200,000 is set to be divided into in funding for four programs, each set to receive $50,000: a language access program that will train staff and translate documents; a payment to the city's existing relief fund for residents who do not qualify for other financial assistance due to their legal status; a new city program to use technology to reduce isolation among at-risk seniors, and funding for cultural and social services organizations involved in the arts.

Hagerty, who is due to leave office in May, thanked Schapiro and the university for their partnership and investment.

“These innovative, exciting programs will help lift up our entire City by tearing down systemic barriers faced by historically marginalized communities, and they will build on the City’s existing efforts to advance racial equity as we look to forge a strong and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hagerty said.

More information about the spending "will be forthcoming as programs are established and implemented," according to the joint statement.

RELATED: Good Neighbor Fund Rebranded As Good Neighbor Racial Equity Fund

In past years, allocations from the Good Neighbor Fund had been announced in November, ahead of the deadline for the city to finalize its budget for the next year.

After the announcement of the rebranding of the program last summer, Executive Director of Northwestern's Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations Dave Davis said the university planned to promptly disclose where the funding was headed.

"[F]unding allocations will be announced much earlier than in previous years to help protect our most vulnerable population from falling further through the cracks in our social safety net," Davis said last July.

As it turned out, allocations by the discretionary fund controlled by the mayor and university president were announced about four months later than they have been in past years.

The contribution for 2020, announced in November 2019, included $135,000 to cover the cost of existing job training programs, $150,000 for upgrades to a community center and $250,000 for paramedic services.

With no gift from the university last year, that left the city's budget with a hole in its general fund of about $500,000. In late November, the City Council voted 5-4 to approve a budget that hiked property taxes by $571,000.

Ahead of the vote, several aldermen called on the university to begin compensating the city for the estimated $659,000 in unreimbursed fire and rescue services the Evanston Fire Department provided the university that year.

"[T]here was an understanding between the University and City leadership when the Good Neighbor Fund was first established five years ago that most of the funding would be used for critical city services (including fire) and other community development projects," university spokesperson Jon Yates told Patch in November.

RELATED: Northwestern 'Refusing To Pay Fair Share' For Evanston Fire Services, Alderman Says Aldermen

In budget discussions last year, aldermen asked Hagerty to attempt to secure a one-time payment from the university to cover revenue shortfalls from the COVID-19 pandemic. The outgoing mayor reported in November he had been unable to do so. But, he said, university officials were open to considering increasing the size of their contribution in 2021 or beyond.

As a registered nonprofit, Northwestern is exempt from any property taxes on its considerable landholdings. In the past, Evanston's City Council has attempted to negotiate payments in lieu of taxes from the elite private university — especially when it purchased property that would otherwise have contributed to the city's property tax base.