Tag: police officers

$626K in general fund spending, $1.3M in ARPA money for police-fire OK’d by Bloomington council

At its Wednesday meeting, Bloomington’s city council unanimously approved $626,000 in spending from the city’s general fund, along with an appropriation of $1.3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money.

This is a table: Department Total Fire $164,600 ITS $94,000 Legal $71,200 Police $50,700 Mayor $48,900 Human Resources $46,500 Planning $35,200 CFRD $28,500 ESD $18,900 Public Works Administration $18,500 Public Works – Facilities Maintenance $16,800 HAND $16,000 Animal Care & Control $10,000 Clerk $4,100 Council $2,200
Details on each department’s appropriation are included in a table below.

After adding another $233,600 in spending for the parks department, and a transfer of $1,875,851 between two kinds of motor vehicle fund, the total for the appropriation ordinance approved by the city council on Wednesday was just a smidgen over $4 million.

The general fund spending will draw on money that was budgeted for 2022, but not spent in that year. If it were not appropriated now, it would revert back to the general fund, and count as a part of the fund balance, from which future appropriations could also be made.

Of the $1.3 million in ARPA funds—that’s money from a federal stimulus bill to help economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic—$1 million was appropriated to pay for a housing down payment incentive for firefighters and police officers. Continue reading “$626K in general fund spending, $1.3M in ARPA money for police-fire OK’d by Bloomington council” →

Bloomington city council critical on first night of 2022 budget hearings: police, parking, sidewalks

On Monday, the first night of departmental hearings on Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s proposed 2022 budget, several city councilmembers conveyed their dissatisfaction about one or more aspects of next year’s financial plan.

Those points of friction included police officer compensation, a parking cashout program for city employees, and alternative transportation funding.

Even though Tuesday is the night scheduled for public safety budgets, Hamilton fielded sharp questions on Monday from councilmembers Dave Rollo and Susan Sandberg about the adequacy of compensation for Bloomington police officers.

Rollo even floated the idea that the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the police union could be reopened to provide higher compensation. The current CBA, approved in late 2019, runs through 2022.

Rollo and Sandberg have concerns about recruitment and retention of police officers. Bloomington currently has 92 sworn officers, which is 13 fewer than the 105 that are authorized.

Rollo doesn’t see the $250,000 pool of retention and recruitment funds in the 2022 budget as adequate.

At one point during Monday’s meeting, Sandberg asked Hamilton, “Do you feel the same sense of urgency that some of us do from having talked to our officers that are currently stressed to a point that I think is almost bordering on a crisis?”

The topic of police staffing levels is certain to be a highlight of Tuesday’s budget hearing, when police chief Mike Diekhoff presents his department’s budget.

Unlike the individual departmental budget presentations, Hamilton’s overview of the budget on Monday was not subjected to an informal straw poll.

The dissatisfaction expressed by the council at Monday’s meeting was not confined to the mayor’s overview.

If the city council’s straw polls had any legal significance, only two of the six departmental budgets presented on Monday would have been approved. The tallies on the straw polls (yes-no-abstain) were: human resources (3–1–5); legal (8–0–1); information technology (4–0–5); council office (6–2–1); controller (4–4–1); and mayor’s office (5–0–4). Continue reading “Bloomington city council critical on first night of 2022 budget hearings: police, parking, sidewalks” →