by:  Diane Benjamin

Obviously when around 20% of voters actually vote in local elections, what City government does to you isn’t a priority.  This is what happens in Bloomington when you don’t care who represents you:

• An estimated $139,000,000 needs to be spent on sewers in the next 20 years
• It will cost an estimated $40,000,000 to fix the roads
• Pensions are unfunded by $120,000,000
• Post Employment Benefits liability hasn’t been calculated
• $1,200,000 is spent on new parks – that doesn’t include on-going maintenance costs

At least one City alderman thinks more money needs to be borrowed!  One City alderman has proclaimed spending on stuff like this isn’t good because they wouldn’t have money to spend on pet projects.

What they mean is “Quality of Life” projects are much more important because they are visible.  New sewers don’t impress voters, unless you live where they are at least 100 years old and could fail at any time.

Here’s a partial list of “Quality of Life” your tax dollars support:

• 3 golf courses
• Miller Park Zoo
• Coliseum
• Bloomington Center for Performing Arts
• Cultural District
• Ecology Action Center
• Miller Park and numerous other parks
• 2 swimming pools
• Pepsi Ice Center

Now both cities are being asked to raise sales taxes for more “Quality of Life” – soccer fields and a Community Center.

Did you know that only interest has been paid on the Coliseum so far?  It is already in need of extensive maintenance.  Is this how you handle your finances?  Since the city outsources the management, even the Council really has no idea how profitable it is or could be, other than adding a hotel nearby would be a great thing, they think.

How many Quality of Life projects can you afford?  The Council hears State Farm say nobody wants to live in Blommington-Normal, so they have trouble recruiting.  The Downtown Bloomington Association wants to turn downtown Bloomington into mini-Chicago, at your expensive, of course.  The Economic Development Council wants government spending to increase economic development.  How’s the Hope and Change working for you EDC?  The Feds investment policies have created 3 times more part time service industry jobs than good full time jobs.

Local government doesn’t want to do the basic jobs they MUST do:  anything the citizens can’t do for themselves like roads and sewers.  Just like the Federal Government, Bloomington government gets bigger and bigger.  the Council wants to give people stuff.  It makes them feel good.  Fixing sewers and funding pensions is boring.  Anybody who requests money with tears in their eyes gets a YES so the Council can be your benevolent master dropping a few coins to the peasants.

Meanwhile, the citizens who don’t vote foot the bill.  Happy Sales Tax increase Bloomington, Normal will follow.  Government has no regard for people living pay check to pay check.  They have no regard for all the families living in Section 8 housing.  They don’t care that taxes are theft, they believe they are entitled to your paycheck.

But don’t vote.  The royalty doesn’t want you to.

State Farm:  Nobody wants to live in the twin cities because it’s a small?  Soon the citizens won’t want to live here because they can’t afford it.