By: Diane Benjamin
Alderman Amelia Buragas on WJBC: http://cdn.stationcaster.com/stations/wjbc/media/mpeg/Amelia_Buragas__Bloomington_Alderwoman__12_17_15-1450373042.mp3
Apartment owners in Bloomington currently pay around $30 a year to register their property. Buragus wants a small increase to $65-$75. According to Amelia, Bloomington should be charging at least as much as Normal! She also mentions Urbana. How much does Champaign charge Amelia? I don’t see any fee on their website, maybe they hid it.
Only a BIG government bureaucrat would call that a small increase.
This fee would apply to EVERY landlord – the City wants to hire another bureaucrat so inspections of every apartment can be done once a year. It doesn’t matter if you have always been a good landlord, Buragas claims their inspections find something to correct in 2 out of 3 apartments.
Remember the League of Women Voters investigation that called for more affordable housing in Bloomington-Normal?
I wonder if the new ordinance is going to raise the yearly fee AND tell existing landlords the rent can’t be raised to cover the cost.
If not, affordable housing is going to get even more un-affordable. Thanks to ridiculous property taxes and fees, apartments aren’t affordable unless your money is redistributed to help out.
Here’s the lesson: If inspections were a priority for the City, cuts could be made elsewhere to pay another employee. Apartment inspections are only a priority because fees can be raised.
One more note. Amelia claims Bloomington has 12,000 apartments. I hope she means every building will be subject to an increase. Otherwise, the new fee will generate as least $420,000 (12,000 x $35). She didn’t say how many apartment buildings exist. She later adds each unit will be subject to an additional charge of around $5.
Either inspectors are really expensive employees or fee increases are just meant to grab more money to create government’s utopia.
I wonder if the Council is going to decrease taxes for everybody when they finish making users fully fund the services they receive.
Don’t hold your breath.
Lets see, if the city manager followed correct procedure we wouldn’t have had to pay IMRF an unexpected over 300,000 and stopped padding pensions with earned sick days. Then how about the over 300,00 to Officer Ogglesby as correct procedure was not followed. Lets stop paying for administration incompetence by using excuses to get more money to pay for this and the Colliseum mismanagement.
Sick Leave Buy Back is over $1 MILLION!
Communists hate private property. Communists hate landlords even more, because they represent earning income from private property. Destroy landlords. Destroy the rental property business. Force people into government housing. More dependence. More Democrats.
What part of this don’t people understand?
More control and take your money, that’s what it’s all about. Here let me write you a little song. The name of the song is “Soak Me, Poke Me” and goes like this,,,Put your right hand in, take your right hand out, and pull the money out, that’s what it’s all about, You do the soak me, poke me. Bad government turns your pockets out. That’s what it’s all about….Just repeat this verse until you get to the chorus which is to repeat the verse, as that’s what it’s all about!
Less apartments will be built, I assume. The cost will be passed onto the tenants. I don’t think many apartment complexes are filled even. Very few State Farmers moving to BloNo. Probably more are going to buy homes outside the city due to property tax and overall housing prices. Seems like a quid pro quo. How many of the developers who owe money to the city also own apartment complexes? I guess keeping the money I owe is better than having the city jack up fees for property registration. They just call a favor in when the city approved a new public housing complex. Or did Hales goof again?
Put private apartment owners out of business, thus create needs for subsidized government housing.
Since property taxes are becoming so burdensome, people move out of homes. The possible addition of mixed-use, high-density housing along the Empire corridor in the proposed TIF district (once the form based code is applied) can generate more fees to make up for losses in property taxes. Property taxes will have to be raised on everyone outside of the TIF to make up for the “frozen” tax rate within the TIF district. And, the cycle will continue until no one can afford any private property.
I think they mentioned LUXURY apartments, you know like the unsold Ensenbergers have.
They better do something about the high crime neighborhood to the north behind Colonial Plaza.
Not mention the developers who will get a loan (I use the term loosely) from the government to tear down “a blighted apartment” complex. Then turn around and section 8 the property. A portion of the rent subsidized so the property owner is getting something. The developer (errr…landlord) then puts minimal investment in the property. This causes issues for the tenants, government has to tell the developer (errrr…landlord) to fix the issues. Developer (eerrrrrggghh….landlord) complains they are lacking funds. Government issues more loans and cycle continues. Developer gets rich while folks have to go find better housing. Government officials get more donations for the re-election. I agree, good way to keep the citizens and property owners dependent on the government.
Crony capitalism. Then as the developers build they’ll get the favors, cut corners and build cheap housing for high rent. Nothing new here. This is how crooks do there business.
A perfect example: Snyder owns 7 acres in the proposed TIF district. He still owes the city money for the 25 year old Fox Creek subdivision. He has been using the city as a bank for decades–no generations.
That is not even counting the developers who bilk the system and submit fraudulent expenses, provide kickbacks, pay “exemptions”. Chicago developers have been shelling out money to not build affordable housing. It goes back into the city’s coffers to finance other low-income housing projects.
I am a landlord in Bloomington. I have an old house split into a duplex that we used to live in but cannot sell because it is in decent shape. I forget exactly how the structure is, but the $30 covers registration and inspection up to a certain number of units. Get above that number and the cost goes up.
That statistic on 2 out of 3 inspections find issues is not indicative of 2/3 of the people being protected from evil landlords. Most of those findings are minor things. When I had mine, they got me for having peeling (non-lead based) paint on the garage. Also, any halfway smart landlord is going to leave something purposefully wrong so the inspectors can find something and justify their job. Nothing against the inspector, she was super nice and professional, but that is how it works anywhere (business too) when an oversight person gets involved.
Agree. I think the most egregious violators are the ones that should be pursued. Does anyone really recall any landlords being in the news here? I don’t.
These inspections are an undue burden to the occupant and property owner in many ways. First it is an invasion of privacy by allowing unknown persons to come into their home to have a look around. There are many units that quite frankly don’t need to be inspected. Let the occupant call the city if needs arise. Second, some folks will want to clean up their home before someone sees their (private) mess. Maybe the dog or cat has to be vacated for the day or put in a room or something. The landlord has to schedule another appointment and wait. It’s bad enough this crap is done every two years. Buragas is a pain in the rear posterior.
But, but these people aren’t smart enough to call, move, or take care their concerns directly to the landlord. Government MUST take care of them!
Supposedly, renters are threatened with eviction if they complain to the city.