From the Data of Western, I'm Micah Allison. This is Everything Evanston, a podcast about the people, business and goings-on in Evanston, Illinois. Today, we're doing a recap of the January 9th City Council Meeting. Then we'll take a look at one of this week's leading stories in Evanston.
This week's Council Meeting opened with public comment. Many of the participants were small business owners, who opposed the recently proposed plastic bag tax. Catherine Gotzick is the Executive Director of the Maine Demister Mile, a business district in Evanston. Gotzick said that although she supported the bag tax's objective to reduce environmental waste, she believes it would be detrimental to small businesses.
I believe the admin required for this, Evanston, is more burdensome than you think it is. Adding any chilling effect on small businesses right now makes the new normal even less tolerable. The plastic bag tax would require business owners to charge customers 15 cents for every plastic bag they use. Eighth Ward, Alderman, Devon Reed, a proponent of the plastic bag tax, argued that collecting the bag tax would not be a time burden on small businesses.
Reed said it would instead have more benefits than drawbacks for Evanston as a whole. Ensure that we're able to do what we need to do to make our community cleaner, to make sure that we are being leaders on our environmental impact. In response to the complaints, fourth Ward, Alderman, Jonathan Newsma, and seventh Ward, Alderman, Eleanor Rivell introduced a motion to send the proposed tax back to the Human Services Committee, a council voted to pass the motion by eight to one. Another item on the agenda was the continued planning of the new school in the Fifth Ward, and the rebuilding of the Fleetwood Jordan Community Center.
City Engineer Lara Biggs presented four potential plans for the Fifth Ward School, which the council ultimately did not make any decisions on. Fifth Ward, Alderman, Bobby Burns spoke about a need for urgency regarding the construction plans. I think we have to make a decision soon about what direction we're going to see. What is the best way you can figure this area so that it truly is a good and good type of city plans, but also addresses finally the true needs of the Fifth Ward.
City Council also voted on introducing a potential ban on cashless establishments in Evanston. This ban would prohibit businesses from refusing to accept cash as payment. This would follow national trends as it's similar to legislation passed in cities like San Francisco and New York. Library equity consultant Leslie Williams spoke during public comment on behalf of the Community Alliance for Better Government, in favor of eliminating cashless businesses.
The sponsor of the New York ordinance stated that a cashless business model is an expression of institutionalized racism, and so far as it disproportionately excludes people of color who tend to have less access to credit and debit, and therefore have a diminished ability to purchase goods and services in an increasingly cashless marketplace. The council voted to pass the ordinance for Introduction to Committee. In other words, it will be on the agenda to be voted on on January 23rd. Make sure to tune in for the next City Council meeting, the week of January 23rd, 2023.
Up next, Shreya Srinivasan talks to City reporter Georgia Siemens about the recently approved budget for the new fiscal year. I'm Shreya Srinivasan and we're going to learn more about a standout story from the City Desk this week. City reporter Georgia Siemens covered Evanston's newly approved budget for the 2023 fiscal year. Thanks so much for having me on Treya and Mika.
I'm happy to be here and discuss Evanston's recently approved budget. So, Georgia, how does this year's budget compare to last year's? Evanston's budget for the 2023 fiscal year has a price tag of more than $397.2 million, which is an uptick of $36 million in city expenses from last year. Just in these numbers alone, we're seeing a substantial increase in city spending on projects, funds, and personnel.
The types of things included in a city budget. I spoke with Evanston's budget manager Clayton Black, who walked me through some major contributing factors to this increase. He noted the role of inflation, but he also spoke on the increased funds available for the city to allocate. Evanston received $43 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, and nearly $23 million of that is budgeted to be spent this next fiscal year.
Black also cited high returns on taxes that benefit our local economy, like real estate and sales taxes. What are some important budget allocations to know about this year? For residents, there are a few data points to keep in mind. First of all, the budget puts an additional $4.5 million towards public safety pension funds.
That means Evanston is on track to 100% funding by 2040. Also, there are 35 new city positions created with this approved budget, including seven new firefighter paramedic positions. Regarding local institutions and funding, this year's budget allocates $70,000 out of the General Reserve Fund to Shorefront Legacy Center. This local organization collects, preserves, and educates the public about Black history on Chicago's North Shore and in Evanston.
Lastly, this past year has been marked by ongoing conversations about reparations in Evanston. The 2023 budget increases the amount of revenues generated by the real estate transfer tax, deposited to the reparations fund from $1 million to $3 million. The fund is currently supporting the city's respective housing program, which distributed $25,000 to each of its 16 recipients to be used toward specified housing costs. Why is this story about the budget so important?
The city budget is the concrete list of city funding for a fiscal year, but it's also a document that transparently identifies two residents where city money is going, what it will be used for, and who will be receiving it. We'll see throughout the year that city council will lean on the budget when making key decisions. We'll also see residents use it as a tool to hold the city accountable for its proposed projects and goals. Thank you so much, Georgia.
No problem. That's a wrap for this week's City Story. We'll be back in two weeks for another look at Evanston City Politics. From the Daily League of Custard, I'm Mika Ellison.
And I'm Shiraishni Bosin. Thanks for listening to another episode of Everything Evanston's Rapid Recap. This episode was reported and produced by me, Mika Ellison and Georgia Siemens. The audio editor of the Daily Northwestern's, Eric Ashmitt, the digital managing editor, Joanne Hainer, and Olat Tungi Osso Williams.
And the editor-in chief is Alex Berry. Make sure to subscribe to the Daily Northwestern's podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or SoundCloud to hear more episodes like this.