Yale University and the City of New Haven today announced a new commitment and plan to support the city’s finances that also outlines key steps toward other vital shared goals — growing the housing supply, addressing food insecurity, supporting local non-profits, enhancing public spaces, and creating new partnerships between university and city that serve the common good.
As described during a joint City Hall appearance by Yale President Maurie McInnis and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, Yale will make voluntary payments to the city totaling more than $230 million through fiscal year 2033. A historic 2021 plan provided more than $135 million over a similar period.
Yale, which is New Haven’s biggest employer and real estate property taxpayer, will also study the feasibility of housing development on some of its property, establish a fund for local non-profits, fortify groups focused on food insecurity, and work with the city to enliven streetscapes and foster community.
Yale is committed to deepening our bond with the place we call home, and our increased level of support encapsulates that commitment and that continuity.
“Right now, both Yale and New Haven are facing significant uncertainty,” McInnis said ahead of the joint appearance. “But that uncertainty is exactly why today’s announcement is so important.
“For the last three decades, our city and our university have worked hard to strengthen our partnership. Together, we’ve created jobs, established educational opportunities for our youngest neighbors, brought visitors to our town, provided health care and other services, and hosted lectures and performances to enhance the vibrancy of our community, to name just a few examples. Yale is committed to deepening our bond with the place we call home, and our increased level of support encapsulates that commitment and that continuity.”
The new six-year plan additionally envisions joint city-university working groups related to economic development, long-term planning, and information technology, and foresees making certain streets more welcoming to pedestrians.
Mayor Elicker described the commitment as “unprecedented” and said it would “mutually benefit both New Haven and Yale.”
Mayor Elicker
“New Haven and Yale have an interconnected relationship that spans centuries, and in recent years it’s a relationship that has deepened in mutual respect and authentic partnership, as evidenced once again by today’s announcement,” he said. “In 2021, Yale’s annual voluntary contribution to the city was $13 million — now, it will be nearly $30 million. This new six-year commitment represents an unprecedented level of financial and programmatic support from Yale to New Haven and an expanded partnership to work together on addressing critical issues facing the Elm City and its residents.
“New Haven’s residents, neighborhoods, culture, and businesses contribute to the vitality of the Yale community, and Yale’s students, faculty, research, and investments contribute to the vitality of New Haven. I’m grateful to President McInnis and her team for their partnership in advancing these shared goals, and I look forward to strengthening our collaboration in the years ahead.”
… [A]n unprecedented level of financial and programmatic support from Yale to New Haven and an expanded partnership to work together…
The announcement comes as the city and university each contend with challenges. Yale will soon be paying significantly higher federal taxes on its endowment, the biggest source of revenue for university operations. Yale is adapting to its budget changes while remaining committed to its priorities — academic excellence, student experience, campus culture, employee success, and partnerships with and throughout New Haven.
For the city’s part, it must address rising expenses and community needs that require additional revenue.
“Today’s announcement shows how Yale is remaining steadfast in our priorities,” McInnis said. “We’re balancing breakthrough research, rigorous teaching, employee success, the vitality of our campus, and the prosperity of our community. That’s how Yale has worked with New Haven for more than three centuries to build this shared home. We hope that collaboration will endure for another three centuries.”
Since 1990, Yale, a non-profit educational organization, has set aside operating budget funds to make voluntary monetary payments to the city, above and beyond the taxes it pays on non-academic properties. These voluntary contributions provide additional support for key city services, including a defined percentage of the city’s fire services budget.
In the last year of the existing 2021 plan, which ends June 30, 2027, Yale will increase its voluntary payment by $5 million, bringing its total voluntary payment that year to nearly $30 million. The $5 million increase will carry forward.
In the first year of the new plan, fiscal 2028, Yale will make a total voluntary payment to the city of more than $30 million. The annual payment will rise at a set rate and reach nearly $34 million.
The latest plan additionally provides for a one-time $8 million enhancement of Yale’s voluntary payment in the current fiscal year (2026).
Yale’s voluntary payments were already and remain the highest of any American university to its host city.
The new plan also renews Yale’s commitment to make, for a defined period, voluntary payments equal to taxes on properties that become newly property tax-exempt because they have been converted to academic use. Payments would gradually diminish after the period, as in the past. Since 2021, those payments have resulted in approximately $2.6 million in property tax payments to the city.
Alexandra Daum, Yale’s associate vice president for New Haven Affairs and University Properties, with President McInnis.
“Today is about expanding Yale’s financial contribution to New Haven, but it’s also about expanding the hands-on work that we do with the community,” said Alexandra Daum, Yale’s associate vice president for New Haven Affairs and University Properties. “President McInnis is committed to continuing exceptional programs that have been around for decades while also setting the stage for bold new work in areas such as affordable housing. There’s a lot of exciting work ahead of us, and we are grateful to have Mayor Elicker as a partner as we roll up our sleeves.”
‘Showing up’
Beyond increased voluntary payments to the city, Yale will explore the development of significant housing on vacant or underutilized university land; invest in infrastructure and capabilities for local food banks; subsidize a three-year fund for local non-profit groups; and establish a series of joint city-university working groups to improve operational effectiveness.
Also, Yale and the city will jointly undertake projects intended to make New Haven more pedestrian-friendly and encourage residents and visitors to mingle by converting some streets to walking or community spaces. Likely candidates include High Street between Chapel and Elm (a site previously studied) and Cedar Street between York and Congress.
The payments and projects described in the new plan supplement Yale’s many ongoing investments in the New Haven community, its home for more than 300 years. The university will continue supporting a wide variety of programs and partnerships developed with city and local partners that nurture and propel local civic and cultural life.
Today is about expanding Yale’s financial contribution to New Haven, but it’s also about expanding the hands-on work that we do with the community.
These include investments in New Haven students and educators, such as the Yale Teaching Fellowship program, which funds masters degrees, certifications, and living stipends for aspiring teachers who commit to service in the New Haven Public School system for at least three years; New Haven Promise, a local non-profit that each year provides scholarships for hundreds of New Haven Public Schools students attending two- and four-year public colleges and universities in Connecticut; and Yale’s Pathways programs, which provide educational enrichment on the Yale campus for thousands of New Haven-area students annually.
Yale also will continue key economic initiatives like the New Haven Hiring Initiative, which helps New Haven residents seek jobs at Yale, and the Center for Inclusive Growth, which promotes broad-based economic growth in the city.
And Yale will remain a committed participant in civic partnerships such as New Haven Reads, which advances literacy through one-on-one tutoring and other programming, while continuing its vigorous support of New Haven’s retail businesses and overall vitality. (For a more complete list of Yale-affiliated programs, partnerships, and initiatives, visit the Office of New Haven Affairs website.)
“Since arriving at Yale, it has become clear to me that the university has a unique role to play in New Haven,” said Geoffrey Chatas, who joined Yale as senior vice president for operations last year. “Our support goes well beyond financial contributions. It’s about showing up as a thoughtful partner that is invested in the long-term success of the city and its residents. Ultimately, this work is about people and supporting our community in meaningful ways.”
