By: Diane Benjamin At last night’s Council meeting the Kevin McCarthy had to point out the Town paid off an $8 million bond from 2012. Wonderful, but how much debt is left? As of 3/31/2021 the Town reported $81,345,000 to the Comptroller’s Office: We won’t know the exact number until the 3/31/2022 reports are released, […]
By: Diane Benjamin $270,944,173 Again this year Bloomington’s finances are on the Illinois Comptroller’s site BEFORE the City gets around to releasing the CAFR (financial statements). The fiscal year ended 4/30/2020 – almost 6 months ago. Why rush? What do they show? Bond Debt: 47,780,000 IMRF pension debt: 12,821,451 Police Pension Debt: 77,693,023 Fire Pension […]
By: Diane Benjamin From the Illinois Comptrollers website: https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/financial-data/local-government-division/local-government-data/processsearchresults/?DisplayMode=GETAFR&AFRDesiredData=Indebtedness&Code=064/095/31&CFY=2020&Menu=Yes&PrintIt=No Bond debt and “Other” = $85,752,874 Note: The Town only paid off $2,205,000 the entire year. Keep in mind NO principal is being paid on some of the loans, just interest. They forgot to say what “other” is: (did the same in 2019 and 2018) Pensions […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/17188/CAFR20-FINAL-DOC From Normal’s just issued financial statements as of 3/31/2020: Note the Long-Term total debt – $224,909,947. It increased more than $25 million in 1 year. What makes up that debt? $84,320,000 is bond debt, the IEPA loan doesn’t have interest expense. PDF page 31 Below is a chart showing the biggest […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since a BIG part of Normal’s population is college students, the census could have a huge impact on government funding. The Town of Normal shouldn’t have to worry about the census if Illinois State University cooperates: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/modifying-2020-operations-for-counting-college-students.html Student living on campus might be counted by the university, they wouldn’t need to fill […]
By: Diane Benjamin Let’s talk debt. Want proof the Town doesn’t care about anything except the ability to make the payments? Budget: https://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/16302/2020-2025-Budget PDF page 233: What that means is the total cost, including interest, is immaterial. That is why Normal has bonds they are paying ZERO principal on. They can afford to throw away […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are the same charts I used in the Bloomington Debt story: https://blnnews.com/2019/12/31/bloomington-debt-2/ Liabilities – Government Activities – Due beyond one year: Source 3/31/19 – $183,410,936 3/31/18 – $171,607,747 3/31/17 – 173,618,828 As of March 31, 2019 Source IMRF pension liability : $ 20,832,186 Police pension liability; $ 35,840,310 Fire pension […]
BlnNews 