By: Diane Benjamin H/T a reader West Washington, across from the Government Center in downtown Bloomington: Does this sign apply? Or this sign? Can you park for 2 hours or not? The signs are within feet of each other: . I suggest parking by the green sign, taking a picture of your vehicle and sign, […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Council meeting was ridiculously long. Council discussion were not the reason. More on that later (maybe). Nothing is ever on the Bloomington council agenda that is not going to pass. Details and discussion take place in 3 on 1 meetings because appearing united is vital. The Downtown Southwest TIF was […]
By: Diane Benjamin Entire agenda: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/f7169b76-5bbe-11ee-ae13-0050569183fa-d854eb82-3702-4140-9de6-ac3a8e3f379d-1721418738.pdf The Council will authorize spending $6,841,961.14 to resurface the below: . The regular agenda is filled with downtown TIF actions. I wonder if anybody will mention how much the City will throw in? The Front and Center building and People’s Bank aren’t going to demolish themselves and the property […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you’ve ever watched a council meeting you know why I call him Mr. Giggles. Those giggles hide the fact that he’s a big government guy and pushes a progressive (communist) agenda. Can’t Bloomington do better? https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-04-15/mwilambwe-to-run-for-2nd-term-as-bloomington-mayor?fbclid=IwAR0pqO6wAXClBrJMohOXCUvF6sQlDT4B1FNa2HwPj3OwLAA2m1M6xwqZS5Y Mwilambwe to run for 2nd term as Bloomington mayor Excerpts: Mwilambwe said he wants to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Note to Jamie Mathy: Future Councils are not bound by actions of past Councils. The Tari Renner “ramp” pension funding plan means zero if it can’t be afforded. Tari knew he wouldn’t be around to find at least $10 million more a year in the future. Renner already locked the Council into […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to Wikipedia: Back in 1967 virtually nothing existed where Eastland Mall is today. Locals tell me the City Council cheered the new mall without understanding moving anchor stores from downtown would result in today’s conditions. How many employees did the Pantagraph formerly have downtown? They recently created another empty large building […]
By: Diane Benjamin Continuation of: https://blnnews.com/2017/12/26/lets-talk-tifs/ https://blnnews.com/2017/12/26/who-got-tif-money/ I don’t know why Fuller Facade Grants are included on the TIF report. Usually they are on Bills and Payroll. The grants are named after Harriett Fuller, but paid for in the budget. See more information about these grants here: http://www.cityblm.org/home/showdocument?id=4101 These grants are just another way to funnel […]
By: Diane Benjamin Almost every FOIA I file gets extended. The law says they have to comply within 5 business days, but they can request a 5 day extension. When 10 business days are given, it should be enough time to get it right. Eventually it isn’t. On November 20th I made this request: I […]
By: Diane Benjamin TIF districts are like Greek to most citizens. If you don’t understand them, government will continue to redistribute money and call it Economic Development. TIF’s made easy: Government sets a Tax Increment Finance area. All government bodies in the area have to agree to forgo tax increases due to increasing property values. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal has not submitted TIF reports to the Comptroller as required: https://blnnews.com/2017/11/03/is-normal-hiding-tif-data/ Bloomington hasn’t either: warehouse.illinoiscomptroller.com Bloomington TIF Past Due The Comptroller’s office must not know Bloomington created another TIF in October 2016 for downtown. They will when I notify them. See the Council minutes here for when the TIF was created: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=11542 […]
By: Diane Benjamin When the last Downtown Bloomington TIF ended, I hear David Bentley wasn’t happy with the money he got to rehab the CII East Building. He sued the City in 2014. See the 2014 TIF report here: ftp://ftp.illinoiscomptroller.com/LocGovTIF/FY2014/06402530/14TIF06402530Dwtwn_Cendistrict.pdf Since the TIF was pretty much over, expenses for legal fees were all that is […]
By: Diane Benjamin The lovers of all things downtown like to claim the last TIF was a huge success. How about some facts? 212 N Center – the address of the Ensenberger condos – shows 31 units on the County website. Only 8 of the 31 are now owned by someone other than the Huffs. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The downtown Bloomington TIF is back on the agenda for Monday night. See the project in the packet here: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11529 The TIF discussion begins on PDF page 181. A list of included parcels is on pages 265-266. The picture below is on page 267: Property “5” is owned by the City of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Renner was in Cuba, so Karen Schmidt conducted the meeting. The Coliseum got more of your money and it sounds like much more to come: Evidently the design of the Coliseum is REALLY bad – Hales plans to budget more changes to the building in coming years. Watch the video starting […]
By: Diane Benjamin October 8, 2007 Bloomington City Council Minutes: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=3049 Ensenberger Condominiums received $2,228,000 in TIF money. Many condos are still unsold. These are the same people who want bailed out of the Front & Center building. Just the architect for the Fire Station that has never been used cost $301,900. More info on […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this post: https://blnnews.com/2016/07/19/downs-the-audio/ The applicable part of the audio from the July 7th Board meeting is still over an hour. I would need to cut it into 5 parts to put it on YouTube. I’ve looked into other ways of posting it, but I haven’t found anything better. The Village Clerk […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are the disbursements listed on the 2010 Downtown Bloomington TIF report: 2010 Report Remember how the DBA (Downtown Bloomington Assoc) was supposed to pay for itself years ago? What did $324,368 get them (OR YOU?) I wonder where asbestos was removed? Good records matter. Wonderlin Galleries is now listed as being […]
By: Diane Benjamin Downtown TIF report filed with the State of Illinois for 2010: 2010 Report Downtown TIF report filed with the State of Illinois for 2011: 2011 Report Both reports are filed by the same guy – the Finance Director at the time, Tim Irvin. You don’t have to be a CPA to see […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you still have no idea what a TIF is, see this post: https://blnnews.com/2016/03/12/tifs-explained/ TIF reports back to 2010 on are line at the Comptroller’s office. Older reports would have to be obtained by FOIA. I will report on where the money was spent on the OLD Downtown TIF at some point, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jeff Giebelhausen has a long history of doing redevelopment projects for government. When taxpayers can be put on the hook for paying part of the cost, projects the private sector would never touch are suddenly attractive. Tari salivates over downtown Bloomington, therefore Giebelhausen is on it! Here’s one of Giebelhausen’s past projects […]
