Evanston staff detail program finances and repayment volatility for housing rehab fund

At the July 21 committee meeting, Marian Johnson outlined the fiscal state of the city’s housing rehab program. She said the fund contains roughly $1,260,000 and that the city holds 68 open loans with an unpaid balance of about $1.4 million. “We currently have 68 loans that are open ... that's an unpaid balance of about $1.4 million,” Johnson said.

Johnson cautioned that program income from loan repayments is unpredictable: some years produce tens of thousands in returns while others produce much more or much less depending on property sales or owner life events. She cited 2024 as a low repayment year (about $8,000) and said 2026 is higher so far (about $111,000), and explained staff typically budget conservatively because the annual CDBG grant arrives in September and the city must preserve continuity between grant years.