by:  Diane Benjamin

The following information comes from the City of Bloomington – Budget in Brief numbers.
http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=2014
http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5104
http://www.cityblm.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=7075

How many times have either Mayor Renner or City Manager David Hales talked about the huge reduction in staff at the City of Bloomington.  They cut to the bone!

Below is a recap of the top 10 employers in Bloomington.  How do they explain this:

Remember, these are the numbers issued by the City of Bloomington!  120 jobs have been added back.  Over 3 years only government added jobs:  City of Bloomington and District 87.

News stories from 2009 say the City of Bloomington was considering cutting 40-60 jobs.  In 2010, one story says they cut 71.  Now they have added 120 in just 3 years.

State Farm has lost 744.

What happened to Mitsubishi and Growmark?  To make the 2015 list, both companies needed to employ more than 450 people.  Mitsubishi had 1270 in 2014 and now they employee less than 450?  Growmark added 399 in 2014 for a total of 932 and now they employ less than 450?

Prior to 2015, to make the list of the top 10 largest employers in Bloomington you had to have at least 533 in 2013 and 527 in 2014.  In 2015 it fell to 450.

One more fact I found in a news story:

The General fund in 2009 was 77,000,000

In the just past budget, the General fund was over 91,000,000.

If the employment numbers are incorrect, then the City of Bloomington issued faulty reports.  If they are correct, Bloomington:  you have a problem.

Tonight the Council is having a budget meeting at 5:30.  The last Work Session was not Live Streamed.  Are they going to be transparent tonight?

If Renner doesn’t hijack to meeting with HIS priorities, it could be a good discussion.  It could also be an attempt to force priorities on the Council based on what other cities do.  Stay tuned.