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From YouTube: Council Minute September 14
Description
In this week’s Council Minute, Mayor Busse shares the preliminary tax levy approved by Council on Monday, plus explains some changes coming to the Bloomington HRA and Port Authority.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
september
12th.
At
our
meeting
on
monday
night,
the
city
council
approved
the
preliminary
2023
tax
levy
and
the
directly
related
preliminary
2023
general
fund
budget.
The
preliminary
levy
is
proposed
to
increase
by
10.5
percent
to
75.5
million
dollars.
When
we
had
the
initial
discussion
about
the
2023
levy.
A
couple
of
weeks
back,
the
proposed
levy
increase
was
11.58
percent.
A
That
number
came
down
after
the
council
asked
staff
to
use
strategic
priorities
fund
money
to
buy
down
the
increase
for
this
year.
There
is
no
question:
an
increase
of
10.5
percent
is
significant.
That's
a
big
number,
but,
as
the
council
discussed
at
length
on
monday
night,
the
increase
addresses
significant
staffing
and
operational
needs
in
bloomington
public
safety.
These
are
issues
we've
been
talking
about
for
some
time
now
and
that
have
been
identified
as
top
priorities
by
bloomington
residents.
A
This
chart
breaks
down
the
proposed
10.5
percent
tax
levy
increase
and
shows
how
that
total
would
parse
out
by
city
department.
As
you
can
see,
3.49
percent
of
the
increase
would
go
toward
the
police
department.
3.38
percent
will
go
to
the
fire
department
and
even
the
1.52
increase
in
the
debt
service.
The
majority
of
that
number
is
the
debt
related
to
the
new
fire
station
number.
Four.
A
In
total,
more
than
eight
percent
of
the
10.5
proposed
levy
increase
is
dedicated
to
public
safety.
This
truly
is
a
public
safety
budget.
More
specifically,
investments
in
police
would
mean
two
additional
police
officers,
a
new
training
dispatch
supervisor
and
funds
for
body
cameras,
training
and
supplies.
A
Investments
in
the
fire
department
would
move
bloomington
toward
the
much
needed
transition
to
a
full-time
fire
department
by
adding
six
full-time
firefighters
next
year
to
go
along
with
the
four
full-timers
hired
this
year.
It's
important
to
note
this
council
action
of
approving
the
preliminary
levy
is
but
one
step
in
the
larger
discussion
of
bloomington's
budgets.
The
city
council
will
be
talking
budgets
in
four
different
meetings
through
october
and
into
november,
leading
up
to
our
special
budget
meeting
on
december
5th.
As
I
said
monday
night
and
other
council
members
repeated,
this
is
an
ongoing
conversation.
A
This
budget
reflects
what
we've
heard
from
the
community
regarding
investments
in
public
safety,
but
it
clearly
isn't
taking
place
in
a
bubble.
There's
a
lot
going
on
in
the
world
right
now
and
there
are
many
questions
and
concerns
and
issues
that
need
to
be
considered
considered
as
a
community
considered
as
individuals
and
considered
as
a
city
council.
There's
a
lot
of
bloomington
budget
information
available
on
the
city's
web
page.
Please
check
it
out
and
don't
hesitate
to
contact
me
or
other
members
of
the
city,
council
or
city
staff.
A
If
you
have
questions
also
on
the
agenda
on
monday,
night
was
an
item
that
frankly
we
haven't
seen
before
on
a
city
council
agenda.
It
was
titled
preliminary
approval
of
the
hra
levy
and
consent
of
the
port
authority
levy
for
2023.
As
I
often
do.
Let's
start
with
some
background
here.
The
housing
and
redevelopment
authority
or
the
hra
is
a
pretty
common
agency
in
cities
and
they
have
different
responsibilities
depending
on
where
you
are
in
bloomington.
The
hra
helps
provide
affordable
housing
opportunities
for
people
who
aren't
adequately
served
by
the
marketplace.
A
It
coordinates
the
city's
efforts
to
preserve
existing
neighborhoods
and
it
promotes
development
and
redevelopment
that
enhances
bloomington.
The
hra
does
this
through
a
variety
of
programs
like
rental
assistance
and
first-time
homebuyer
assistance.
The
most
noteworthy
program
is
the
housing
rehabilitation
loan
program.
It's
a
very
successful
program
that
provides
loans
to
residents
to
help
them
fix
up
their
homes.
A
A
You
might
think
that
you
need
to
have
a
port
to
have
a
port
authority,
but
officially
you
don't.
The
bloomington
port
authority
is
an
economic
development
agency
that
expands
the
city's
tax
base,
works
to
promote
and
attract
quality
job
opportunities,
and,
most
importantly
here
in
bloomington
supports
real
estate
development
and
economic
development.
A
The
port
authority's
efforts
are
currently
concentrated
in
the
self
loop
district.
So
with
that,
as
the
background
back
in
2021,
the
hra
board
adopted
a
strategic
plan
and
it
aligns
with
the
city's
strategic
priorities
and
places
a
high
level
of
importance
on
the
entire
housing
continuum,
from
unsheltered
homelessness
to
assistance
for
single-family
homes.
A
Now,
while
the
hra
and
the
port
authority
both
had
some
of
those
responsibilities,
the
feeling
was
that
we
didn't
have
specific
staff
whose
main
responsibility
was
to
cultivate
and
develop
and
grow
the
bloomington
business
community.
The
council
and
staff
agreed
it's
something
that
bloomington
needs.
A
The
assessment
of
the
hra
was
done
by
an
outside
consultant
and
it
was
completed
in
may.
It
included
some
insightful
observations,
for
example,
black
indigenous
and
people
of
color.
Individuals
and
seniors
are
the
fastest
growing
groups
in
the
city,
and
they
are
currently
underserved
by
the
hra
that
home
ownership
programs
are
often
limited
by
funding
sources,
that
the
hra
is
primarily
focused
on
housing,
not
on
commercial
nodes
and
needs,
and
that
there
is
a
gap
in
redevelopment
and
economic
work
which
could
have
resulted
in
misdevelopment
opportunities.
A
First,
the
plan
will
focus
the
hra
mission
towards
what's
referred
to
as
the
continuum
of
housing
and
will
shift
the
hra
away
from
some
of
its
current
redevelopment
work.
Now,
the
continuum
of
housing
basically
means
all
the
housing
options
you
can
think
of
from
homelessness.
To
transitional
housing
to
affordable
rentals
to
owning
a
market
value
home,
the
hra
will
focus
on
the
entire
continuum
and
will
also
focus
on
housing
projects
with
20
or
fewer
units,
which
is
a
housing
option,
that's
currently
lacking
in
bloomington.
A
Second,
the
plan
envisions
a
totally
new
role
for
the
port
authority
that
fits
the
city's
current
and
emerging
needs.
It
would
move
the
majority
of
multi-family
and
commercial
redevelopment
to
the
port
authority.
That
would
include
responsibility
to
continue
the
success
of
bloomington's
opportunity,
housing
ordinance.
It
would
also
make
the
port
authority
responsible
for
those
important
activities.
We
talked
about
earlier
business,
development,
expansion
and
retention.
A
To
accomplish
that
important
work,
the
port
authority
would
add
five
full-time
staff
members
with
three
of
those
coming
from
vacant
positions
in
the
hra
being
moved
into
the
port
and
the
other
two
being
new
hires.
The
next
logical
question
is:
how
are
we
going
to
pay
for
all
of
this
and
I'm
happy
to
report
that
the
net
new
cost
will
be
zero.
A
A
Very
simply,
we
can't
afford
to
miss
development
opportunities,
and
this
rethinking
of
how
we
deliver
services
to
our
community
is
an
important
step
toward
achieving
that
goal.
I'm
excited
about
this
plan
and
I'm
especially
excited
to
see
how
it
all
works
together
when
our
new
bloomington
business
development
center
opens
in
the
old
fire
station
number
three.
That's
it
for
this
week's
council
minute.
Thank
you
for
spending
some
time
with
me
today.
Until
next
time
stay
safe,
bloomington,.