Yale Endowment: Marchand Asks More

Elicker says he will honor the March agreement as Marchand points to Yale's investment gains and New Haven's budget needs.

NEW HAVEN, CT — Yale's endowment grew 26.3 percent in its last fiscal year to $54.5 billion, the university said Tuesday, Oct. 27, and one city leader says the gain should prompt a new look at what Yale gives New Haven.

Adam Marchand, the Westville alder who leads the Board of Alders' Finance Committee, told the New Haven Independent the return shows Yale is on solid ground. "It means that the institution is healthy; its future is strong," he said. He added that it "begs the question" of whether Yale should be contributing more to the city, its budget and its community.

Yale Will Phase In the Gains Over Five Years

The return came to $11.3 billion in investment gains, the most for Yale since 2021. Three senior administrators, Provost Scott Strobel, Chief Financial Officer Katrina Spencer and Geoff Chatas, the senior vice president for operations, told faculty and staff Tuesday that the money will enter the operating budget a piece at a time over five years, beginning with the fiscal year that starts in July 2027.

Roughly three-quarters of the endowment can only be spent on specific purposes by law, they wrote. The federal tax on Yale's endowment rose this year from 1.4 percent to 8 percent and will cost the university about $350 million a year, they said. The administrators listed stronger ties to New Haven among the priorities for the new money.

Elicker Says He Will Honor the March Deal

In March, Yale President Maurie McInnis and Mayor Justin Elicker announced a deal that raised Yale's voluntary yearly payment to the city to roughly $30 million, climbing to about $34 million by 2033. Yale has pledged more than $230 million in total through fiscal year 2033.

Asked whether he would press Yale for more after the endowment news, Elicker said he would keep to that deal. "I'm gonna stick by that agreement," he said. "That being said, I'm always eager to find ways, more ways that Yale can help support the city." He noted the payment has grown from $13 million to $30 million a year over seven years, which he called the largest payment any university makes to its host city.

New Haven finished the last fiscal year $8.5 million short on operations, mostly because of school costs, the Independent reported.

Marchand Wants Yale to Think Bigger

Marchand said closing the deficit would be welcome, but he would rather see Yale put "tens of millions of dollars" toward schools, housing and other city needs. He called the current payment "a meaningful amount," but said it is "a fraction" of a city general fund that tops $700 million.

By the Independent's math, Yale's $11.3 billion gain last year was more than 15 times the size of the city's whole general fund budget, and the roughly $30 million payment comes to about 0.25 percent of that gain.

Asked whether Yale's payments should be required by law, Marchand pointed to the state legislature, which has looked at Yale's tax exemption before. He said the question could return in the 2027 legislative session.

Yale Union Contracts Expire Jan. 17

Yale is also bargaining with two unions: Local 34, which represents clerical and technical workers, and Local 35, which represents service and maintenance workers. Both contracts expire Jan. 17, and union leaders said at an Oct. 14 rally that a strike is possible, the Independent reported.

Elicker said the return shows Yale has "significant capacity to help support the people that are supporting Yale's operations." Marchand, who also works for Local 34, said, "Yale can afford to settle a great contract with its unions."

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