By: Diane Benjamin
Tari: Congratulate your Economic Development people for bring Hy-Vee to town. It just cost you a Cub Foods. I wonder who Green Top Grocery will put out of business?
How many hotels were put out of business when Normal decided they needed a Marriott? What will happen when Normal’s second hotel opens? Still want a hotel in downtown Bloomington? The Chateau is already shaky, are they the next Cub Foods?
Obviously demand is limited by the ability of people who want to buy AND have the money to pay. Government doesn’t create new money for people to spend, they just shift where it is spent.
The citizens of Bloomington have less money to spend – THANKS to YOU!
Below is a recap of the taxes you passed to balance the budget last year.
Utility Tax $ 1,435,891 (Increase over last year)
Amusement Tax $ 660,452 (All new)
Motor Fuel Tax $ 1,584,371 (All new)
Total new taxes: $3,680,714
Source: (http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8632)
You are deciding how to spend close to $4 MILLION a year instead of the people who earned it.
The money isn’t even spent wisely. Every month the City ships big bucks from taxpayers to Springfield for legal services:
$50-60,000 every month: $600,000 – $720,000 @ year
Source: Bill and Payroll – Contracted Legal
This doesn’t include all the money spent with Peoria and Chicago law firms, or the money shipped out for consultants. Keep taking money from citizens and spending it out of town, more empty store fronts will appear Tari.
How much staff and legal expense was wasted on Paradigm and the Giebelhausen deal Tari?
You are spending a ton of money and batting 0-2!
I found an interesting link on the City website from Tari’s stacked budget committee: http://www.cityblm.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=8672
They’ve done extensive work on raising taxes. Maybe they haven’t gotten to potential cuts yet. Want to see more empty buildings? Take more money out of the economy, tell people where they have to spend what’s left because you choose their entertainment, and watch Bloomington’s decline continue. Just because you build it doesn’t mean people will come!
I noticed something interesting from Bills and Payroll approved at the last meeting: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8638
The number of City employees is listed below the payroll figures:
Total Employees: 449 Bi Weekly 5/29/15 (salaried)
Total Employees: 429 Weekly 6/5/15 (hourly)
Total Employees: 407 Weekly 5/29/15 (hourly)
The increase in hourly employees is probably due to seasonal hiring.
Add the 449 salaried and 407 hourly employees: 856 employees!
That’s one City employee for around every 90 citizens! Tari: Is your computer program wrong or is the truth of cutting positions being fudged?
Let’s get 90 citizens in a room and see if they think their 1 city employee is worth more tax increases.
Have ya all heard about the new liberal two step dance?
It’s called the Tari Poly-Sci-Two Step and it goes like like this:
1st Verse – Put my right foot in and my left foot back. Then back a step, back a step, and shake it all around. Put both hands forward in the pockets of my friends. Take it out, take the money you can grab and shake it all around. That’s what I’m all about.
Chorus: Give me bike lanes and other useless things. Your quality of life means nothing to me. Give me hotels as I tax you out of your home. That’s what I’m all about. Unions work another year and vote me in for four. They can’t see past the developers greed. That’s what it’s all about.
2nd Verse – I think I step forward, but I take two steps back. Try to balance and don’t fall down. Concentrate a smile while lying through my teeth, lying to my peeps and shake it all around. That’s what I’m all about.
Chorus: Give me bike lanes and other useless things. Your quality of life means nothing to me. Give me hotels as I tax you out of your home. That’s what I’m all about. Unions work another year and vote me in for four. They can’t see past the developers greed. That’s what it’s all about.
3rd Verse – Eat up free lunches while gala-vanting around town. Eat ’em up, mix ’em up and shake it all around. I try to be cool but no one is fooled as I shake it all around. That’s what I’m all about.
Chorus: Give me bike lanes and other useless things. Your quality of life means nothing to me. Give me hotels as I tax you out of your home. That’s what I’m all about. Unions work another year and vote me in for four. They can’t see past the developers greed. That’s what it’s all about.
4th Verse – Yes I am so cool that I can’t be a fool. Fool me once, and fool me twice and shake me all around. I jump up on desks in my millennials classroom. That’s what I’m all about.
Chorus: Give me bike lanes and other useless things. Your quality of life means nothing to me. Give me hotels as I tax you out of your home. That’s what I’m all about. Unions work another year and vote me in for four. They can’t see past the developers greed. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what it’s all about. Yeah, that’s what it’s all about. Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah.
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You need a band to sing and put it on video!
http://www.cityblm.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=8672
This report is dated March 7, 2015 and is the proposed budget for May 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016 (FY 2016). From Alderman Sage’s questions at the June 8th Work Session, the stacked budget committee (illegal, in my opinion) will likely include decreases in services with increased “fees (taxes) for use” for SW or other core city services. Other taxes are most likely to increase or new ones will be added.
The number of high level staff (wonder about their salaries) that were present at the Executive Session was staggering. It took all of those “experts” 6 weeks to conclude the Front and Center proposal was too much of a risk for the city. I told them as much before the Council voted to move forward.
So many of the Council decisions should be based on common sense and putting themselves in their constituent’s shoes. Isn’t that what representative government is?
So, who on the Council had enough common sense to kill it? Lower for sure, maybe Sage which means Schmidt. Not Painter or Hauman or Black. That leaves Fruin, MBoka, Buragas. It would take 5 – any guesses?
It was reported that the meeting took 3 hours. The Council was outnumbered by the staff who did the number crunching. The Aldermen would have been foolish to challenge them. There was not supposed to be an official vote. But who knows…it was behind closed doors.
Tari had to know he didn’t have 5 votes or it would be happening.
Also, after the open session, I spoke with a downtown property owner/developer who said there was a reputable out of town developer with financial resources who is interested in the property. Not sure if the Huffs will work with him though.
I wonder how much taxpayer money they will want.
Probably the “typical” tax incentives which of course takes tax money out of the local economy. I still would liked to have heard who said what at the Closed Session.
Yeah right! Sticking 90 Bloomington city workers in 1 room & expecting any idea is like putting monkeys in a room and getting Shakespeare: I think I’ll put my bet on the monkeys!