By: Diane Benjamin This payment was approved at last Monday’s Bloomington City Council meeting: If you still don’t understand what Accelerated IMRF Payments are: SOME Bloomington employees are still allowed to SPIKE their pensions. Sick Days (possibly others too) are accumulated and then the employee is compensated for unused days when they retire. That compensation […]
By: Diane Benjamin The entire meeting was a little over an hour. I suggest citizens who plan to vote watch a few meetings instead of believing campaign literature. Of course no one showed up to speak at the Public Hearing on the budget. Many of the Trustees congratulated themselves on its greatness however. Spending on […]
By: Diane Benjamin The budget is the big item for tonight. Will anyone notice fixing the streets isn’t allocated enough money to even begin catching up? Streets are becoming like pensions. It doesn’t matter how much money is thrown at them, they will never be rated well funded. Is Bloomington investing pension money with companies […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington could have a short meeting tonight: http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1163&Inline=True Some highlights: Is anyone going to ask why businesses keep leaving downtown for the East side? Is anyone going to admit the City Core is Veterans Parkway not downtown? Sick Leave Buy Back is still being paid, it just can’t be used to spike […]
By: Diane Benjamin BNWRD (Bloomington Normal Water Reclamation District) is holding a meeting on Monday. They send their packet to me every month since documents aren’t on line. I have NEVER seen mention in the minutes of a citizen making Public Comment. That isn’t stopping them from making their policy legal however. Maybe McLean County […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-114 No BCPA event reports have been posted to the City website. Evidently I have to FOIA all of them. From this year’s budget: $1,700,000 of the Revenue is from Home Rule Sales Tax. Of that $840,206 goes to bond payments. See the complete BCPA presentation in the budget starting on PDF […]
By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader The below was received by FOIA. Other documents state a new library is still on the table after the underpass is built. Many Koos voters think the only thing that matters is progress, progress to what is never defined. They think projects like this, funded completely with tax dollars, […]
By: Diane Benjamin At the last meeting (September 8th) Kevin McCarthy pulled approving the bills from the Omnibus Agenda just so he could state “it is just a report”, everything spent was already approved in the budget. Last night Kathleen Lorenz pulled the same item so she could give the same speech. Who’s turn will […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m sure I missed writing about other great moments from last night, but it was a VERY long meeting! Only two citizens showed up to speak about the budget. The same two spoke at Public Comment in addition to one other citizen. Budget: Karl Sila spoke 6:45. He mentioned the full budget […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3566 A couple more notes about the retirement present for Jeff Fritzen: This purchase violates the Town purchasing policy: https://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/12829/2017-Purchasing-Policy-Manual-x?bidId= Under Ethics: PDF page 4 and page 5: PDF page 2: https://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/7696/Chapter-02—Officers-Elected-and-Appointed?bidId= Fritzen was paid $4800 a year as Trustee. That gift was close to a 10% bonus: PDF page 44 The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3566 See this previous story: https://blnnews.com/2020/02/28/normals-hatred-for-citizens-is-now-legendary/ Surprise, surprise, the Budget has now been posted: https://www.normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/16302/2020-2025-Budget Public comment during a budget hearing can NOT be limited. Start reading! The AGENDA will be separate story. Spending: Loss? Why is Normal writing Chris Koos a check? Is it for his retirement or did […]
By: Diane Benjamin The charts below are from the current Town of Normal budget unless otherwise stated: https://normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/14883/2019-2024 PDF page 64 – Revenue projections for Children’s Discovery Museum and the Normal Theater PDF page 121 – CDM Expense projections PDF page 123 – Theater Expensive projections Projected Revenue: Children’s Discovery Museum $1,003,050 Normal Theater $259,700 […]
By: Diane Benjamin This information is from the budget: https://normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/14883/2019-2024 I don’t know why the budgeted revenue was decreased for this year, but Normal still plans to collect a lot of money for licenses, fines, fees, and permits. Maybe it’s down because little development is happening creating a need for permits. PDF page 27. This […]
By: Diane Benjamin It would be nice if Bloomington showed the same charts year-to-year, but they don’t. These charts are available here: https://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-145 Budgeted numbers: The 1% Sales tax increase went into effect January 1st 2016 after being passed in 2015. The budget for Food and Beverage tax is lower in 2019 than 2015. The […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.connect-transit.com/documents/BUDGET%20DOCUMENT%20-%20Final_Revised.pdf I read it so you don’t have to. It reads like a socialist dream, Connect wants to be “a sought after expert in transportation solutions”. (PDF page 11) That won’t happen with huge empty buses! Excerpts: PDF page 7: (You need to see that last one!) PDF page 11: PDF page 13: […]
By: Diane Benjamin The budget will be passed with ZERO priority based funding discussions. The City staff writes the budget, the Council members nod their head in agreement. Nothing can ever be cut, the priorities are what the City wants, not citizens. Houseal Lavigne & Associates has already received $125,000 to rewrite the Zoning Code. […]
By: Diane Benjamin On the agenda for Monday night is a public hearing on next years budget. PDF page 163 has a brief summary that says next to nothing: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=21243 If you want to see details, go here: http://www.cityblm.org/government/departments/finance/annual-budget Also on the Agenda: PDF page 166: Allowing exceptions to the moratorium on video gaming! The […]
By: Diane Benjamin (I’m not having a good day and tomorrow won’t be any better!) Water Rate documentation for tonight: PDF page 72: http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3230 Back when Normal wasn’t afraid of transparency, they posted the history of rates citizens pay for essential services. Luckily, I copied them: https://blnnews.com/2012/05/30/normal-il-what-is-up-with-the-debt/ Water rates in 2009 were: $4.95 per 1000 […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council is holding a Committee of the Whole meeting tonight: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=21055 On the agenda: Annual report to be given by Isaac Thorne, General Manager at Connect Transit. Thorne will tout the new electric buses and solar infrastructure. He will also talk about locations in downtown Bloomington for the transfer […]
By: Diane Benjamin The budget for the BCPA is buried in the Parks and Rec. I FOIA’d a detailed Parks and Rec budget to see exactly what it costs. The budget predicts Revenue of $3,073,270. It predicts Expenses of $3,349,098. That is a loss of $275,828. But that’s not the story! $1,700,000 of that $3 […]
They do have $4,290,000 listed in Book 2 as Capital improvements: PDF page 270 http://www.cityblm.org/home/showdocument?id=18372 This money comes from the added Local Motor Fuel Tax and part of the increased Sales Tax. The taxes you already paid weren’t good enough. ___________________________________________________ By: Diane Benjamin Remember this email from Jim Karch? I asked him how much […]
By: Diane Benjamin Source for below: https://blnnews.com/2017/03/11/the-budget-workshop-that-wasnt/ Tari Renner is the problem: Tari was elected in 2013. That budget was already done. The Renner exploding budgets started in 2014. 2018 is the budget currently in place. Bloomington shows NO sign of understanding the local economy is declining. They are planning to keep spending and fleecing. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City wants you to believe they can control only 5% of the budget. State mandates were heavily blamed. The budget discussion starts around 1:28. Not blamed was the cost of employees, the cost of their lavish benefits, and pension spiking. This Council made it worse when they hired two more employees […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15932 Now for the meat of tonight’s Bloomington City Council meeting! Finally we have arrived at the tax increases. Solid Waste – AGAIN! PDF page 130 The Council will get a choice – all of them cost you more: Ordinance 1: “High Service Level, High Fee Increases” Ordinance 2: “Medium Service Level, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois politicians at almost every level don’t understand how to live within their means. They don’t believe you are entitled to spend your money how you want it spent. Quality of Life! They know what that is, you don’t. Chris Koos just got a nasty surprise: Funny how both mayors didn’t have […]
By: Diane Benjamin On the agenda for Monday night: Packet PDF page 124 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12448 The City is planning to donate a van to the YWCA – value is between $3,414 -$5,115 What State statute gives the City the right to give away a taxpayer owned asset to a non-profit? Aren’t they discriminating against every other […]
By: Diane Benjamin Everything is scripted in the City of Bloomington to make sure citizens only know what the City wants them to know. Unlike Tari Renner’s claims of transparency, very little exists. Try filing a FOIA request and see how long it takes, what is denied, and how much is redacted. It has gotten […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thanks to Steve Vogel who today mentioned in his weekly column that Bloomington is in a recession. Moody’s Analytics reported that in January (and so did I), but the media has been ignoring it. Anyone who attended the Bloomington “Budget Workshop” today would have seen Bloomington is also ignoring that fact. If […]
By: Diane Benjamin Cuts could be easy, but nobody at the City wants to cut! It is impossible to suggest specific budget cuts for Bloomington because the data isn’t available. The City issued hundreds of pages saying where the money is being spent without any details. Was there a line item last year for the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington finally released the financial statements for April 30, 2016. The TIF report still hasn’t been released and neither has a separate audited statement on the Coliseum. Maybe another year? Two? At this point, what difference does it make? It’s much easier to read the information from the Comptroller’s site. Total Full […]
By: Diane Benjamin 2017 numbers are from PDF page 120 http://www.cityblm.org/home/showdocument?id=10626 2018 numbers are from PDF page 108 http://www.cityblm.org/home/showdocument?id=12224 . . . . Total revenue projections are down from last year $211,282, but the entire budget increased $6,000,000 . .. . . . . . Personal income in 2015 was less than 2014 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Numerous times Mayor Renner said they could abolish Parks and Rec and not balance the budget. It was his way of justifying tax increases. A found this document from 2015 on-line: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8116 Many documents exist on-line that were only done once. This is one of them. Evidently the City can’t decide on […]
By: Diane Benjamin A number of people have asked me recently where the tax money is in Illinois if the bills aren’t being paid. Senator Chapin Rose took the time on Tuesday to fill me in. First, he went over how we got in this mess. Of course, this is his opinion. The Democrats didn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin Transparency must be dead: No Coliseum reports have been posted on-line since 4/30/15. (Meanwhile the media is instructed to report false information about real losses) City Manager Monthly Reports haven’t been posted since December 2015. Sewer rates will increase: This is from the Budget Work Session for 2017. Providing the sanitary sewer […]
By: Diane Benjamin Discussions of the City of Bloomington proposed budget is not being held in the Council Chambers. Citizens will never know what happens because video won’t be available. Unless citizens attend, details will be a secret. If anyone on the Council cares about the people paying the bills, nobody will ever know. Just […]
By: Diane Benjamin I find it amazing the Pantagraph has details of the budget David Hales is going to propose Monday night, but the citizens don’t! Nothing is included in the packet, do the aldermen have details? Obviously the Pantagraph is running interference for the City yet again. In 2013 the General Fund spending was […]
By: Diane Benjamin The following numbers were taken from a report received under the Freedom of Information Act. The report has all current budget detail by department. Email me if you want the report, I can’t link to it in a readable format. (blnnews@yahoo.com) The first column lists everything connected to the BCPA on the […]
By: Diane Benjamin One of Tari’s favorite lines: We have a “Structural Deficit”. He uses it to say all expenses are fixed and there is nothing we can do about it but raise taxes. Sorry dude! Maybe you need a new economist, or at least a new line. According to this site: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-structural-deficit.htm Structural deficit […]
By: Diane Benjamin The ONLY reason I started this site IS the Pantagraph. I watched years of their misreporting that turned to lack of reporting. They messed with the WRONG person! Citizens deserve news, the Pantagraph doesn’t report it unless it fits their purpose. They are completely in bed with local government, Steve Vogel’s daughter was […]
By: Diane Benjamin Two schools of thought are in play locally: 1) Government exists to create Quality of Life – no specific definition 2) Government exists to provide essential services citizens can not provide for themselves – police, fire, streets, sewers etc Normal switched to option 1 when Koos was elected. Everything that happens there […]
