By: Diane Benjamin
https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4300
The Feds decided to print money and hand it out to local governments. Tonight Normal wants to hand another $200,000 to Connect Transit from those American Rescue Plan Funds. But wait – this isn’t a one time gift: (PDF page 53)
Why is Normal doing this? Not only so “1 rate for all” can continue, they can get more STATE money!
So,
The Feds print money, hand it to Normal, they hand it to Connect Transit, who gets more State dollars to run empty buses. Feeling squished by inflation? Government is squeezing you on purpose.
Some gems from the City Manager expenses:
The 2nd floor of 1 Uptown Circle is now costing you more: $37,430.85 a month instead of $36,430.85. It’s only $1,000 more a month.
The Parking Analysis/Plan hasn’t been released. It must be a secret. (Maybe it’s bad news)
Youth on a Mission is hopefully done taking your money.
$2,565.30 for retirement? Did the police chief get a huge party? Is this Normal’s version of “Let Them Eat Cake”?
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As a business owner in up town Normal I can attest to the fact that the parking study was a joke. I set in on the meeting where business owners were invited to listen to the consultants. If you look at the background of the company that the town used it was a company whose background was working with large cities and focused on parking decks, not towns the size of normal. The city could have gone to most any business owner in uptown and we could have told the city what the problem was with parking and offered potential solutions. Either way the city would not have listened to us. The taxpayers are soaked for $27,000 needlessly. How sad.
Incredibly unfortunate, but that’s how they roll. They really don’t want to help small business owners at all.
my mistake taxpayers soaked $23,600 not $27k