Chicago moves to dissolve dormant $57 million Community Catalyst Fund

A review by Inspector General David Glockner revealed that Chicago’s Community Catalyst Fund, established ten years ago to boost investment in economically disadvantaged areas, has been effectively dormant for several years. Although the city contributed half of the originally proposed $100 million, the fund only deployed roughly $21 million of the $50 million it received, with all investments made in 2020 and subsequently repaid.

Since 2022 the fund failed to file annual or quarterly reports, prompting concerns about oversight rather than misuse. Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, serving as ex officio chair of the fund’s board, responded to the inspector’s advisory by asking the city council to dissolve the fund and reallocate its more than $57 million in assets to the general fund. The council is slated to vote on the proposal at its full meeting on September 23, a move seen as a way to address the city’s projected $130 million budget shortfall for the 2026 fiscal year.