Most Bloomington City Council members are still unsatisfied with Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson’s 2025 budget proposal after further discussion with the mayor during its regular meeting Wednesday.
Councilmembers Matt Flaherty, Isabel Piedmont-Smith, Kate Rosenbarger and Sydney Zulich said during the meeting that the council’s priorities, highlighted in a letter sent to Thomson on behalf of the legislative body in June, are not included in the proposal.
These initiatives included safe streets projects, transportation improvements and a data study into the city’s emergency dispatch calls. Thomson assured council members during Wednesday’s meeting that even though the infrastructure initiatives were not funded in the budget, they could be funded by general obligation bonds later. General obligation bonds allow the city to take on long-term debt from the state to fund public projects.
Thomson said salaries cannot be supplemented by bonds, but projects and studies can, so the personnel items listed on the proposal have larger allowances than the council’s priorities.
Under the proposal, many city departments could receive personnel budget increases, including the Bloomington Fire Department. A union representative, who joined the meeting via Zoom, endorsed the budget’s 27% increase to firefighter salaries. The union has campaigned for increased wages since last year due to employee retention issues.
Councilmember Hopi Stosberg said she was uncomfortable with only a verbal confirmation from the mayor that the council’s demands would be met through bonds and asked Thomson if it was possible for funding to be cemented within the budget.
Thomson said she and city Controller Jessica McClellan would be in touch with the city council after examining the budget further.
“We’re here to talk to you to make changes,” Thomson said.
The 2025 budget operates in deficit due to the loss of annual grants for 2024. For example, the Department of Public Works Street Operations will lose $9.2 million because of expired American Rescue Plan Act and Community Redevelopment Economic District funding.
The Community and Family Resources Department, a department that addresses the housing crisis in Bloomington, will also experience a budget decrease of over $1 million.
Thomson told the council the city could offer a long-term plan to fund their initiatives with grants and bonds coming in upcoming years.
“I understand that this is a trust exercise,” Thomson said after making the verbal commitment.
Thomson will begin advertising the budget to the public and city departments on Sept. 13 ahead of a planned public hearing on the proposal for Sept. 25. She said she will pitch the budget with a higher monetary amount than she believes will ultimately be approved by the council so that money may be moved around before Nov. 1.
The city council and mayor must come to an agreement by Nov. 1 or the budget for 2024 will remain in place.
