By: Diane Benjamin
The Bloomington Council voted 7-2 to increase property taxes 13.4% last night. The library increased taxes by almost 2%.
After a Who’s on First like re-enactment, discussions took place by the Council both during the Public Hearing and before the vote. 7 members swallowed whatever staff fed them, only Alderman Sheila Montney brought receipts. She and Kent Lee were the two NO votes.
The City has reaped the benefits of water rate increases and automatic sewer and garbage increases. Sales Tax revenue is high. Money the State provides is also high. The Grocery Tax is back after staff said it wasn’t going to be forced on you. None of that mattered to the 7, most of who said nothing.
At one point the City Manager asked for ways the City could save money. Here’s one Jeff: eliminate the Economic Development department and quit sending money to the Economic Development Council.
The latest EDC tax return (2023) showed PATRICK HOBAN being paid $211,554. For what? The video below proves the EDC and the Economic Development department contributes nothing. EDC Tax Return – 2023
Montney asked the Finance director how much of the huge Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) increase could be attributed to growth and new construction. The answer was almost nothing. That means landlords and homeowners are going to be taxed again on unrealized gains they will only see if they sell their property.
You can cash in quick by reserving a UHaul and moving out of this State where government has a right to your money and you don’t.
Clip of that discussion:
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I’d be really worried if I had a child being taught civics by Cody Hendricks. The comment below is reprehensible. The library tax rate is going down because Assessed Values increased 8.5%. It’s despicable to make citizens believe the rate is less because of anything the library staff did. They simply didn’t grab the entire increase they could have and don’t need. They already did that when they turned the library into a social and fun club to provide meeting rooms for the local activists. Traffic at the library is up, circulation is down. Look up the past RATE increases Cody, all while local assessed values were skyrocketing.
The 7 clapping seals is what Bloomington deserves when at least 80% don’t bother to vote. Enjoy your rent and property tax increases. Want to buy a house? Those 7 made it harder last night.
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Hit play for the Public Hearing where some discussion took place. They start again at 42.55.
AI generated – not by me!
STOP SPENDING!!
…that is what the rest of us have to do!!
So vote in another school teacher
His salary and pension is paid mostly by real estate taxes. So you think he has any motivation to cut real estate taxes?
Noooo!
Mr. City Manager, here is a novel idea on how the city can save money: across the board 5% cuts for the entire city government, every department. Figure out a way to do it without laying people off (attrition is acceptable, not filling empty jobs), and without cutting services.
They basically raised property taxes for last year and this year in one year(13.5%), so their little “oooo we didn’t raise taxes last year” shtick is over.
Also, anytime some talks about the tax rate, they are idiots with an ideological agenda. The only thing that actually matters is the LEVY: the actual dollar amount of taxes they are charging us.