By: Diane Benjamin
Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1010/files/agenda/6908
Today is a Federal Holiday, the City of Bloomington once again violates City Code to meet today. https://blnnews.com/2019/10/13/bloomington-violates-their-own-code/
Violating City code is now a way of life for aldermen, Council, and City Manager who spent over $50,000 without Council approval. https://blnnews.com/2025/07/17/more-bloomington-prosecutions-for-code-violations/
This item is on the regular agenda. See if you can spot the problem here, if you can’t I will tell you at the end of this story:
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The Council is giving away their oversight duties to the City Manager by calling homelessness an emergency: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1010/files/report/1393
How many homeless people are in Bloomington? The link doesn’t say. When The Bridge opens, how many people will still be homeless? “Democracy” is at stake when your representatives willingly hand over power to an unelected bureaucrat.
Two penalties for the cost of pension spiking are on Bills and Payroll: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/31873
The recipients were allowed to increase their final salary and therefore their pensions by banking unused days off just to do this.
Also on the agenda:
Big changes for fire department employees: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1010/files/report/1358
Instead of 24 hours working and then 48 hours off, the change is to 72 hours off. Other details are at the link above.
Also on the agenda, O’Brien Honda will be getting a Sales Tax rebate of up to $750,000 to modernize their GE Road dealership: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1010/files/report/1351
Charging for FOIA Requests is back on the agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1010/files/report/1357
Hint City: If FOIA Requests were filled right the first time the cost would be considerably less. Stay tuned, that is the next story!
Figure out what is wrong with the first item?
Other than staff is guessing at how much the local grocery tax will collect, what does dedicating the estimated $3 million a year to infrastructure do?
Notice it doesn’t say this is an additional amount to spend, therefore $3 million that would have been spent on infrastructure will be spent elsewhere and this $3 million will replace it. 😏
The ” Grocery Tax” is the absolute most regressive place to add expense to the individual Bloomington citizen. This is the hardest tax to deal with for those least able to afford more expense. Look for a number of additional young families and those retired who are attempting to continue to exist on their taxed social security checks, to be added to the welfare rolls. For many young families, this may be the tipping point! Infrastructure repairs and public safety are always the excuse to burden everyone with additional taxation, when they are actually spending the additional money to implement their ” New Green Deal” driven projects they think you will not notice. Didn’t they just spend a huge amount of money, to attempt to beautify Downtown, yet again?
Where do we start? If we need more money for infrastructure, charge employees and customers, students and teachers to park at every business and all government buildings. The shortest time should be most expensive. If the firemen want another day off, don’t pay them. Maybe the city manager should run for election. The price of food is high enough, at least have the tax start after first $50.
that is one of the friendliest union contract’s I have ever seen. Wonder if the city even bothered to negotiate. Thanks “Workers Rights Amendment” passed into the State constitution in 2022… really making things better here in Illinois.
Reduced working hours with no salary cuts, guaranteed pay raises, hiring more firefighters to cover the reduced working hours, better time off, better sick leave buy back to spike pensions higher… all combined will be millions of dollars in new spending.
Higher spending means higher taxes. Yay!
This is brilliant. Simple and to the point.