by: Diane Benjamin
Number one complaint of citizens: roads falling apart. So the City borrows $10,000,000 and plans to budget another $4,000,000. The budget comes out and the $4,000,000 is cut. The City can’t find a way to keep your car from getting damaged dodging potholes.
Guess what they can find money for?
Golf paths. It’s very important to keep the golf carts from getting damaged, your car – not so much.
It’s all about Quality of Life – City government thinks you want 3 golf courses, the Pepsi Ice Center, the Coliseum, the BPCA, a LOT of parks, the zoo, 2 pools, and bike lanes.
Look at this list from the Parks & Rec website:
Unfortunately, the City is way over their heads with Quality of Life. They aren’t done spending, but they can’t maintain what the already have. They can’t fund pensions. They can’t fix the roads.
There is no difference between the State of Illinois spending and what Bloomington is doing. Neither will ever have enough money because they say NO to nothing. If they can get a 75% grant, why not do it?
Illinois is a financial disaster. People and businesses will continue to leave. The same fate is in store for Bloomington if they keep expecting citizens to pay more taxes so they can hang on the financial ledge a little longer.
If citizens don’t tell their government to stop spending and start downsizing the Quality of Life items, Detroit isn’t that far away. Infrastructure will continue to deteriorate. Government has run out of other people’s money, they just don’t want to admit it.
I challenge residents to attend Council meetings, watch on-line, or watch the archived videos. Attending a meeting would scare the Council, not nearly enough people do. Contact your alderman. Every meeting has expensive items on the agenda that just HAVE to be done. The City pays for way too many studies. For some reason they have the philosophy they have to keep Moving Forward. To what? The only thing they are Moving Forward to is financial destruction.
Only you can stop them!