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From YouTube: Council Minute August 24
Description
In this week’s Council Minute Mayor Tim Busse discusses Monday’s special City Council meeting where councilmembers and staff discussed the 2023 preliminary tax levy and general fund budget.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
august
22nd.
We
didn't
have
a
regular
city
council
business
meeting
this
week,
but
we
had
a
special
meeting
with
only
a
single
item
on
the
agenda.
The
council's
first
discussion
with
staff
regarding
the
2023
preliminary
tax
levy
and
general
fund
budget.
Now
I
should
clarify
it's
our
first
formal
discussion
staff
starts
their
work
on
the
annual
budget
each
year
in
may.
A
Well,
then
we've
been
talking
about
this
budget
for
most
of
the
year
at
our
meeting
staff
brought
forward
a
first
draft
of
a
budget
that
shows
the
2023
tax
levy
of
76.2
million
dollars.
That's
an
increase
of
11.58
percent
over
the
2022
levy
of
68.3
million
dollars.
That's
a
significant
number
much
higher
than
the
2.75
percent
increases
that
have
occurred
in
each
of
the
past
two
years
and
higher
than
our
average
annual
increase
of
four
and
a
half
percent
that
we've
seen
since
2016..
A
The
primary
factor
driving
that
increase
is
a
significant
increase
in
public
safety
spending.
Here
in
bloomington,
it's
a
conversation
we've
been
having
for
at
least
the
past
18
months,
police
and
fire
accounted
for
49
of
the
city's
2022
tax
levy
and
their
proposed
2023
tax
levy
would
increase
that
percentage.
Let's
start
with
the
bloomington
fire
department,
bloomington
firefighters
have
proudly
and
bravely
served
this
community
since
1947
operating
as
a
volunteer
or
paid
on-call
department
all
of
those
years,
and
they
have
done
fantastic
work
using
that
model.
However,
sufficient
staffing
continues
to
be
a
critical
issue.
A
The
ideal
number
of
active
firefighters
in
bloomington
is
about
155..
Currently,
bloomington
fire
has
97
total
active
firefighters.
This
includes
seven
chiefs
and
90
firefighters
and
these
staffing
issues.
They
are
not
unique
to
bloomington
it's
hard
to
recruit
and
retain
firefighters.
No
matter
where
you
are
it's
a
tough
demanding
job
working
patterns
have
changed.
Family
dynamics
have
changed,
cities
have
changed,
bloomington
has
changed
and
we
need
to
change
how
we
deliver
fire
services.
A
The
2023
budget
is
an
important
next
step
in
moving
bloomington
fire
to
a
full-time
fire
department
by
hiring
six
new
full-time
firefighters
and
this
following
the
decision
this
year
to
add
four
new
full-time
firefighters.
The
2023
budget
also
includes
debt
service
on
the
cost
of
the
new
fire
station
number.
Four,
our
current
fire
stations
were
built
in
the
1970s
and,
frankly,
they
aren't
big
enough
to
fit
the
trucks
and
the
equipment
that
are
used
to
fight
fires.
Today,
in
2022
they
also
don't
have
the
living
quarters
necessary
to
house
a
full-time
fire
department
staff.
A
Ultimately,
the
department
will
need
75,
full-time
firefighters
to
go
along
with
60
paid
on-call
firefighters
and
over
the
course
of
the
next
decade.
That's
what
we
need
to
do
by
incrementally
adding
to
the
fire
department
budget,
adding
six
full-time
firefighters
annually
would
require
approximately
an
additional
1
percent
increase
to
the
overall
property
tax
levy
each
year
for
the
next
10
years,
and
to
be
clear,
this
change
to
a
full
time
model
is
not
a
nice
to
have
option,
but
a
necessity.
A
The
staffing
issues
are
showing
up
very
clearly
in
metrics
like
response
times
and
the
number
of
firefighters
responding
to
calls
this
chart
shows
the
concerning
reality.
During
this
calendar
year,
bloomington
fire
met
their
response.
Time
goal
no
better
than
67
percent
of
the
time,
and
more
concerning
is
the
fact
that
a
good
number
of
times,
bloomington
fire
trucks,
responded
to
calls
with
only
one
or
two
firefighters
on
the
fire
truck
in
june
alone.
A
These
are
the
realities
we
face
concerning
staffing
issues
and
how
this
proposed
budget
responds
to
those
realities.
Similarly,
the
budget
includes
a
proposal
to
add
additional
police
officers
to
the
bloomington
police
department.
The
bpd
is
currently
authorized
for
123
officers
and
based
on
national
benchmarking
for
cities
of
our
size.
That's
a
bit
low.
The
proposal
would
add
three
new
positions
this
year
and
staff
has
three
more
new
officers
penciled
in
for
the
2024
budget
as
well.
A
One
of
the
biggest
benefits
of
increasing
that
number
would
be
a
decrease
in
the
hours
of
overtime
that
our
officers
currently
work.
I'm
not
telling
you
anything,
you
don't
already
know
when
I
say
that
policing
is
hard,
stressful
work
and
when
our
officers
are
also
regularly
working
overtime,
to
meet
basic
staffing
needs
or
to
work
an
event,
they
don't
get
the
downtime
they
deserve
and
need.
We
need
to
be
careful
not
to
wear
down
or
burn
out
the
most
important
assets
we
have
in
the
police
department.
A
Our
police
officers
in
total
investments
in
public
safety
would
account
for
4.4
million
dollars
of
the
proposed
budget.
The
additional
three
million
dollars
of
the
proposed
budget
increase
is
basically
in
line
with
increases
from
previous
years.
Like
any
organization,
the
city
of
bloomington
is
facing
increased
cost
due
to
inflation
and
rising
costs.
A
A
quick
note
on
staffing:
this
budget
proposal
includes
an
increase
of
14
new
full-time
positions
for
2023
six
in
the
fire
department,
three
in
police,
four
in
public
works
and
one
in
human
resources
administration.
As
I
mentioned
monday
night.
These
are
all
frontline
service
delivery
staff
and
the
proposed
positions
address
specific
service
needs
in
the
community
and
at
city
hall.
A
One
thing
that
always
comes
up
when
we
talk
about
our
bloomington
budget
is
the
question
of
what
our
neighboring
cities
are
doing.
Here's
an
unofficial
list
of
what
some
of
our
neighbors
are
considering
for
their
levies.
It's
interesting
to
note
that
cities
similar
to
bloomington
in
terms
of
age
and
how
developed
they
are
like
edina
and
burnsville
and
rapids
they're,
all
somewhat
similar,
we're
all
facing
similar
challenges
related
to
staffing
and
infrastructure.
A
Reinvestment
bloomington
has
historically
been
on
the
lower
end
when
comparing
monthly
city
property
tax
amounts
for
the
median
value
home,
and
this
chart
shows
bloomington's
monthly
property
tax
for
the
median
value
home
for
2022
compared
to
other
cities
in
the
metro.
The
other
question
is
always
about
year
over
year
comparison
between
cities
and,
if
you
look
at
the
final
levee
percentage
change
since
2016,
bloomington's
average
is
right
about
in
the
middle
of
this
group
of
comparable
cities.
A
The
fact
is
that
property
taxes
in
bloomington
continue
to
be
a
good
value
for
the
services
that
residents
receive.
You've
heard
me
say
before
that
these
annual
budget
discussions
are
the
most
important
discussions
we
have
as
a
city,
the
city
council
and
the
city
of
bloomington
staff
take
very
seriously
the
responsibility
we
bear
regarding
taxing
decisions
and
how
your
money
is
spent.
A
We
also
take
seriously
the
desire
to
share
as
much
information
as
possible
regarding
our
budget
conversations.
This
was
a
brief
overview
of
a
conversation
that
lasted
almost
three
hours
on
monday
evening.
The
recording
of
that
meeting
is
available
through
the
city's
website,
and
I
encourage
you
to
watch
it.
If
you
have
the
time.
Our
budget
website
includes
a
lot
of
great
information
on
how
budgets
are
developed
and
where
money
is
spent,
and
I
mentioned
outreach,
engagement
efforts
and
those
efforts
continue.
A
A
A
Finally,
today,
a
quick
thank
you
to
everyone
who
joined
me
for
the
town
hall
forum.
Last
wednesday
evening
we
had
just
under
50
people
at
oak
grove
middle
school,
not
bad
for
a
wednesday
night,
when
we
were
competing
with
the
popular
mini
farmers,
market
and
music
here
at
civic,
plaza
and
summer
vacation
season.
I
answered
a
lot
of
good
questions
and
covered
a
lot
of
ground
in
90
minutes.
In
short,
I'd
call
it
a
success.
A
You
can
watch
the
recording
on
the
city's
website.
Next
up
will
be
a
series
of
town
halls
in
the
specific
council
districts
across
the
city
district,
4,
council
member
patrick
martin,
is
first
up
that'll,
be
on
monday
september
26th.
So
get
it
on
your
calendars.
Now
the
location
details
will
be
shared
very
soon.
That
will
do
it
for
this
week's
council
minute
thanks
much
for
tuning
in
until
next
time,
stay
safe,
bloomington,.