By: Diane Benjamin Since Tari became Mayor the citizens of Bloomington have been taxed to death: 4% Amusement Tax Utility Tax increase 4 cent a gallon gas tax 1% Sales tax increase Solid Waste Increase Other increases? Tari claims inflation is causing the budget woes. How about some facts! Some citizens have been pouring over […]
By: Diane Benjamin March 2009: Ground was broken for the Fire station on 6 Points Road to serve the City’s southwest side and planned extension of Mitsubishi Parkway. Garbage collection went from $5 to $7 and the sales tax went from 7.5 to 7.75 to pay the bonds on the Coliseum. The budget shortfall was […]
by: Diane Benjamin These payment were made in Fiscal Year 2013. Some are obvious what they are, some aren’t. You can see the entire list in alphabetically order below. One I find interesting: Sikich Llp $ 162,100.21. This is the auditing firm from Springfield. Entire list: Bloom 2013 Alpha vendor . . . . […]
by: Diane Benjamin There are 77,733 residents in Bloomington Soldier Field holds 61,600 people. If Bloomington residents went to Soldier Field, held all the babies and small children, the entire town could squeeze in. Moral of the story: Bloomington isn’t a big place! The City spends around $169,000,000 per year. That’s $2174 per person. $4348 […]
by: Diane Benjamin I received the following information from the City of Bloomington under the Freedom of Information Act. As a CPA, the issuance of PCards to over 200 employees raises many red flags. I requested a copy of the policy under which employees are expected to operate. Here is part of that policy: I […]
by: Diane Benjamin This information was received under the Freedom of Information Act. According to the City of Bloomington, 225 employees have City p-cards. Commerce Bank administers these cards and automatically takes the payment from the City account. A 40-50 page statement of charges is then sent to the City. During 2012, a total off $2,438,480 […]
