By: Diane Benjamin The numbers below are from the Illinois Comptroller’s website: http://warehouse.illinoiscomptroller.com/ Normal’s budget has increased 33% in 6 years. 5.5% per year is much higher than the inflation rate. Last year Normal spent almost $36 million more than it did in 2012. Where is it? Roads? Population is estimated at 54,264. That spending […]
By: Diane Benjamin I get delicious free water from a well. You folks in town have to pay for it. I bet you think your government priced that water according to what it cost them to bring it to your house. You might even be okay if they added a little to the price to […]
By: Diane Benjamin The budget Tari Renner inherited when he became mayor was $167 million. (2014) Page 3 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=5104 2015 budget was $180.4 million Page 3 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=7075 This took 13.4 million out of the local economy 2016 budget was 186.3 million Page 15 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=9210 This took another 6.3 out of the local economy for a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Budget numbers for 2016 and 2017 are from the City website: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=37 All other numbers are from the Illinois Comptroller’s office at the link below. If your assessed value just increased significantly – look at the EAV (Equalized Assessed Valuation) The housing market crashed in 2008, in Bloomington it crashed in 2013. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington continues to hide the formerly transparent tax receipts. That means they are either way above projections or dropping like a rock. There is no way of knowing since transparency died. Thank Alderman Hauman for suggesting the City Manager’s Report doesn’t need to be done. I agree printing it […]
By: Diane Benjamin What did Bloomington citizens tell their elected officials? Fix the roads and no spending public money on a downtown hotel. The Mayor and Council heard the same mantra over and over, but did they listen? Obviously not. Stay with me here . . . I get the same emails from ICMA – International […]
by: Diane Benjamin Monday night the Bloomington City Council heard a presentation on a new way to create budgets. It started with a professor from the government division at Illinois Institute of Technology. He didn’t say it, but he thinks cities are stupid and incapable of doing the right things. In Bloomington’s case he may […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’m noticing a pattern. The same roads must be resurfaced frequently. A 7-year-old parking garage is falling apart. The west side fire station, that has never been used, leaks. The pattern is showing itself again at tonight’s Council meeting. Work needs to be done at Evergreen Lake. Only 1 bid was received. […]
Isn’t it amazing how the City Council of both Bloomington and Normal are suddenly conservative? Members who never met a tax increase they didn’t like, are suddenly looking for cuts to balance their budgets – you know the ole’ property values are down, incomes are down, citizens are suffering . . . Can’t possibly have […]
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