Tag: general fund

$856K in federal funds allocated by Bloomington city council

At its Wednesday meeting, Bloomington’s city council approved an annual resolution that authorizes allocations from the Community Development Block Grant program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

This year, the total estimated grant amount is $855,868, with $556,314 going to physical improvements $128,320 going to social services and $171,173 going to administrative costs.

The city works with estimates based on the previous year’s actual funding through the CDBG program.

HUD sets percentage maximums for social services (15 percent) and administration (20 percent). The amounts this year reflect Bloomington’s typical practice, which is to max out both of those categories.
Continue reading “$856K in federal funds allocated by Bloomington city council” →

$3M from general fund, with industrial dev heritage, OK’d by Bloomington city council for tech center

The image, looking east, is dated April 2020. It’s from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s online property lookup system. Annotation by The B Square.
From left: Bloomington city councilmembers Matt Flaherty and Steve Volan
Alex Crowley, Bloomington’s director of economic and sustainable development
Pat East, executive director of The Mill

A 3-story 22,000-square-foot technology center in Bloomington’s Trade’s District got the final piece of its funding approved by the city council at last Wednesday’s meeting.

Approved by the city council on Wednesday, with eight of nine votes of support, was a roughly $3-million appropriation from the city’s general fund. Steve Volan abstained.

In round numbers, the $3 million approved by the city council adds to a $3.5 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA), and about $2 million in tax increment finance (TIF) money, which was authorized by Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC), to cover the roughly $8.5-million cost of the building.

The new technology center is supposed to coordinate with The Mill, a nearby coworking space, to provide support for emerging tech companies that have progressed beyond the incubation phase and have shown some commercial viability. The effort will be led by former Bloomington mayor John Fernandez, who was recently hired as senior vice president for innovation and strategic partnerships at The Mill.

The city council’s approval on Wednesday came after a postponement from its meeting a week earlier.

The postponement was related to a source of friction between some councilmembers and the administration, over the origin of the general fund money that was appropriated by the council on Wednesday.

Even though the appropriation was from the general fund, it had originated from the establishment of two different CREDs (community revitalization enhancement districts) in Bloomington, for the purpose of infrastructure investments to promote economic development with revenue overseen by Bloomington’s industrial development advisory commission (BIDAC). Continue reading “$3M from general fund, with industrial dev heritage, OK’d by Bloomington city council for tech center” →

Column: Hey, buddy, let’s talk trash bin math

Before the end of the year, Bloomington residents could be looking at an increased price for their trash pickup by the city’s sanitation division.

City of Bloomington trash cart. Looking north on Washington Street (Oct. 17, 222)

The idea is not just to cover the increased costs for the service. The eventual goal could be to eliminate any general fund support for trash and recycling collection, by making the service pay for itself with fees.

Curbside trash and recycling pickup is a city service that’s now provided just to residences with four or fewer dwelling units, which includes single-family houses.

There is enough money in the recently adopted 2023 budget to continue the general fund support of curbside trash and recycling pickup.

But Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s administration, and at least some councilmembers, want to reduce that support eventually to zero. That’s why sometime before the end of the year, the city council will likely be asked to approve a trash cart rate increase.

To cue up the conversation about trash cart rates, it is important to understand the current monthly rate structure for the three sizes of carts. Continue reading “Column: Hey, buddy, let’s talk trash bin math” →