The Evanston City Council meeting on Nov. 13th began with a movement by Jonathan Nieuwsuma, Fourth Ward councilmember, to table three ordinances which would allow Northwestern University to rebuild Ryan Field and use it as a space to host concerts. This delay was the result of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the city of Evanston and Northwestern being updated two days prior to the meeting on Nov. 11. The movement was passed 6-2.
“[This] will give us more time to digest the late, breaking developments, and I am certainly looking forward with very much enthusiasm to approve these in a week,” said Nieuwsuma.
Following this, Mayor Daniel Biss made a proclamation that designated the week of Nov. 19 ‘Restorative Justice Week’ in recognition of the community’s continued effort to form a restorative community within its schools, faith congregations, nonprofit organizations and neighborhoods.
The council then passed an ordinance creating a third tier of tax on amusements in Evanston. Currently, there is a 5 percent tax on events with 101 to 1,500 patrons and a 7 percent tax on events with 1,501 or more patrons. The new ordinance will tax 9 percent for events with 5,001 or more patrons, causing a 2 percent increase. The new amusement tax will apply to events at Welsh Ryan Arena.
Next on the agenda was the discussion of the proposed budget plan for 2024. Council members discussed ways to pare down this near $450 million budget, with the specific intent to lower the increase on property taxes the high budget would cause.
Sixth Ward councilmember Devon Reid voiced his concern on the budget. He brought up many new ways of expanding the City’s revenue to be voted on at the Nov. 27 meeting, but his main point of discussion was the money the budget allocated to the capital improvement plan, outspending affordable housing, an issue that the council had previously made a priority.
“There is a lot more detail and thought that needs to go into this [budget]. We can’t say that affordable housing is a top priority for this council and spend more on pickleball [courts],” said Ried.
