A $58 million City fund is run by a board that hasn't met since the pandemic. Alderpersons want it to close the budget gap

The Chicago Community Catalyst Fund holds about $58 million, and the board that controls it hasn't voted on anything since the COVID-era small-business loans, City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin's office told the Council's budget committee Monday (watch).

Why it matters: the Council is looking for money to close an $882 million gap without the Mayor's head tax. Several members said idle cash is a better place to start than new taxes or cuts.

What the fund is

The fund dates to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Treasurer Kurt Summers; the Council approved it in 2017, Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) recalled. It was meant to invest City money alongside private co-investors, which never happened, said Craig Slack of the Treasurer's office. Early in the pandemic, $50 million of it went into the Small Business Resiliency Fund, which made loans to 762 businesses, the Treasurer said (watch). Those loans have been repaid, so the fund is back to its original money plus earnings.

Its board last acted on those loans, the Treasurer confirmed when Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th) asked. O'Shea put it as a board "that hasn't met in seven years" (watch). It has met zero times this year, and none of the three advisory seats set aside for alderpersons is filled, members were told.

What's proposed

Asked by Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) how much would go to the 2027 budget (watch), the Treasurer said no money has moved and that a split of about $30 million for the budget, with the rest for small businesses, has been discussed but not voted on by the fund's board or approved by the Council. She said she didn't know the administration's exact number, and that her own recommendation had been to return all $50 million.

• Beale argued the fund should keep helping small businesses, not plug a one-year hole (watch).
• O'Shea said that with no head-tax support on the Council, the money should go to the gap "to protect taxpayers," and urged an ordinance to redirect it (watch).
• Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), the Finance chair, confirmed the fund's board must vote before the Council acts (watch).
• Waguespack cited an Aug. 13 Inspector General report that found about four years of required fund reports had not been done, and asked whether open-meetings and records laws apply (watch). The Treasurer said she wasn't sure; Waguespack said the fund is a public body under both.
• Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) asked how many of the 762 borrowers are still open (watch).

The Treasurer's own budget

The office's proposed budget is $8.64 million, up $2.13 million, according to the Council Office of Financial Analysis. Most of the increase sits in one line, professional and technical services, spread across the corporate fund and the vehicle tax, Midway and O'Hare funds, Ald. Bill Conway (34th) said (watch).

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) asked which fund pays for the Treasurer's security detail (watch). Later, the Treasurer said the Police Department pays, but her staff couldn't say where in its budget. Reilly said an office asking for a 33% increase should be able to answer basic questions about its 40 employees in public (watch).

The interest money

The Treasurer said the City expects about $445 million in investment earnings in 2026, the most of her tenure. Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) asked where roughly $166 million in earnings beyond what the 2027 budget counts shows up (watch); the answer was left to follow-up through the chair.

What our records add

Our hearing notes list every member's questions with links to the video. The Council last wrote its own revenue plan in December 2025, passing an alternative 2026 revenue ordinance 29 to 19 (SO2025-0021719). Moving Catalyst Fund money would take a board vote, then an ordinance.