By: Diane Benjamin
The meeting last night wasn’t long. The video has a Township Meeting at the beginning.
Nothing was pulled from the Consent Agenda and almost no discussion took place on the one Regular Agenda Item.
There were 3 Public comments. Surena Fish spoke again about the alternative school locating in the old Pantagraph building. Plans look to include other social service agencies in the same building which brings people downtown that only contribute bodies – not economic growth.
A lady spoke after her about a sign the City forced a friend of hers to remove while not making another neighbor remove theirs. Her pictures couldn’t be seen so I have no idea what the real issue is.
Public Comment starts at 57:50.
The only “news” Bloomington residents need to know is: Your water bill will compound increase for the next 2 years. What does that mean?
If your bill before the latest tax increase was say $60, it is now $60 x 1.33 = $79.80
Next year it increases to $79.80 x 1.33 = $106.13.
The year after: $106.13 x 1.33 = $141.15.
If the increase was only the amount it was the first year people might not be so offended. Instead, this regressive tax more than doubles in just a few years.
I find it funny the City took out long term bonds to build the Coliseum so those who will enjoy it for decades also help cover the cost. That was paraphrased from the Finance Director.
Making you pay for “generation investment” in the water system is the opposite. The Coliseum was $30 some million, the water investment is $400 million.
Don’t plan on a future council revising that rate structure. The City is taking out bonds based on the revenue they plan on you playing.
Just hit play to hear the Finance Director. Scott Rathbun always does a good job explaining issues.
For clarification, the 33% increase for water is ONLY the for the water portion of the “water bill,” not the total bill.
Going forward, the increase for the entire bill will be 3%.
It’s difficult to justify giving blanket 3% raises, at minimum, when you have to face the voters/taxpayers. Since prior councils wanted to keep their plan going, they created a system with automatic increases, regardless of what actually happens. I would venture that a lot of well-paid city employees with amazing benefits and retirement packages aren’t going anywhere if they have to tighten their belts with say, 2% raises instead of 3%. With the way the government is raising everything, it makes it nearly impossible to keep up from the private sector.
Ward 9 could make a great change for fiscal responsibility. Here’s hoping people are tired of the rampant yearly tax increases.