Evanston’s Marijuana‑Funded Reparations Face Revenue Shortfalls as Other Cities Consider Similar Models
Evanston, the first U.S. city to pay Black residents $25,000 in reparations funded in part by marijuana tax revenue, is confronting shortfalls and questions about how to secure additional funding. Meanwhile, Cincinnati officials have proposed a $5 million "Cincinnati Real Property Reparations Program" funded by marijuana tax proceeds and the capital budget to provide down‑payment assistance, delinquent tax relief, and emergency repairs to low‑ and moderate‑income residents and families barred from homeownership by historic discriminatory practices in 15 neighborhoods.
📌 Key Facts
- Cincinnati’s vice mayor and a city councilman have introduced the 'Cincinnati Real Property Reparations Program,' which the City Council is scheduled to consider in early March.
- The proposal seeks an initial $5 million in funding drawn from marijuana tax proceeds and the city’s capital budget to finance housing-related reparations.
- The program would target low- to moderate-income residents and people or families who were blocked from homeownership by discriminatory practices.
- Assistance would be concentrated in 15 of Cincinnati’s 52 neighborhoods.
- Planned benefits include help with down payments, payment of delinquent property taxes, and emergency home repairs.
- Local supporters frame the plan as a remedy for historical harms, citing 1920s-era real estate board rules that barred Black residents from buying or renting in White and suburban areas and federal redlining policies.
📰 Source Timeline (2)
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March 02, 2026
5:00 PM
Cincinnati may be the next city to fund reparations program with marijuana tax money
New information:
- Cincinnati’s vice mayor and a councilman have introduced the 'Cincinnati Real Property Reparations Program' to be taken up by the City Council in early March.
- The proposal seeks an initial $5 million, drawn from marijuana tax proceeds and the city’s capital budget, to fund housing‑related reparations.
- The program would target low‑ to moderate‑income residents and people or families blocked from homeownership by discriminatory practices, in 15 of Cincinnati’s 52 neighborhoods, offering help with down payments, delinquent property taxes, or emergency home repairs.
- Local supporters explicitly frame the plan as repairing damage from 1920s-era real estate board rules that barred Black residents from buying or renting in White and suburban areas, and from federal redlining policies.