By: Diane Benjamin
Two council meetings ago Renner rushed through a 1% Sales Tax increase. .25% is going to the County, the rest was passed because Tari wanted it. There was no specific purpose mentioned other than his “structural deficit”. All that means is the City spends more than they take in.
Monday night the Council will get a 1st Quarter update from Patti-Lynn Silva (Finance Director). Surprise! Almost every tax levied against citizens shows receipts higher than budgeted! http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9255
Page 21 has a complete recap of taxes, but each tax is also recapped on separate charts following.
State Sales Tax – Above budget
Home Rule Sales Tax – Above budget
Income Tax – Above budget
Food and Beverage Tax – Above budget
Local Motor Fuel tax – Above budget
Franchise Tax – Above budget
Replacement Tax – Above budget
Local Use Tax – Above budget
Packaged Liquor tax – Above budget
Hotel Motel Tax – Above budget
Vehicle Use Tax – Above budget
Amusement Tax – Above budget
Video Gaming Tax – Above budget
Utilities Tax – LESS than budget (the City looks at this tax to determine population shifts)
Without waiting for information from the year ended 4/30/2015 – which won’t be out until the end of October – and without looking at tax receipt trends, 7 members of the Council voted to steal more money from YOU by increasing the Sales Tax.
Government doesn’t earn money. Government takes money from citizens and re-distributes it.
Mitsubishi and affiliated suppliers are closing. Instead of government adjusting spending to changing conditions, taxes were raised.
Monday’s report even includes CIAM’s 1st Quarter report on the Coliseum. Will anybody mention the obvious errors? Is the City demanding the money back CIAM paid itself on unqualified revenue? http://blnnews.com/2015/10/01/coliseum-info-buried/
(Got any more good jokes?)
More PLATITUDES from the almighty Tari! What next? I AM the SMARTEST mayor in the U.S.A.? And my underlings will follow me to the edge of the earth or Pizza King-where I’ll buy them lunch! Maybe ALL that feeding themselves (on OUR dime) has helped our tax base? Que No?
Those b*stards!
Does anyone really think Renner and Hales didn’t know about the upward trend in revenue. At a recent council meeting, Silva reported some “good news” with regard to tax receipts. Spending will continue without cuts. In the name of ED, the city now has a policy of providing tax relief to developers. Now Normal has a better chance of “bringing Bloomington around” for the sports complex. But, those tax receipts will change dramatically once all the layoffs occur.
I still don’t quite understand how tax receipts are going up. People and businesses keep leaving. Is the extra revenue coming from the recent tax increases?
Some, but no all. Receipts could be months behind, maybe the crash hasn’t caught up yet.
Ah, thanks for that information. I should have known since they are so prompt with the Coliseum reporting, they would be equally prompt with tax receipts.
New name for your Mayor and Council, “Spanky and His Gang.”