On Wednesday, Bloomington’s city council is holding a work session to talk about budget priorities for 2025.
Here’s something to watch for: Will the city council start to apply the principles of outcomes-based budgeting to its own part of the budget?
Specifically, will Bloomington’s city council start asking: What outcomes are we buying with investments in our three full-time staff, and how are we measuring those outcomes?
Next Wednesday (May 29), Bloomington’s city council will hold a work session to discuss budget priorities for 2025.
Possibly part of the conversation will be the concept of outcomes-based budgeting, which is a notion that was given some discussion at an April 24 budget work session.
Outcomes-based budgeting focuses on getting specific results and impacts, in contrast to more typical budgeting for governmental units, which allocates funds based on historical spending patterns and departmental needs.
Panorama of convention center looking to the southwest as seen in August of 2022.
Total food and beverage tax revenues by month since the 1-percent tax started getting collected.
Bloomington’s city council has set a work session for this Friday (April 5) at noon, to discuss a project that has been in the works for a few years—the renovation and expansion of the Monroe Convention Center.
The current convention center stands on the southwest corner of 3rd Street and College Avenue.
The work session will likely be closely watched by other elected and appointed officials, because the city council is not necessarily unanimous in its support of every aspect of the planned expansion.
Showers West 1st Floor Schematic (Sept 9, 2023) The fitness room already exists as an amenity for previous tenants. The dark-blue dashed lines represent a hardened barrier. North is left. East is at the top.
Showers West 2nd Floor Schematic (Sept 9, 2023) The dark-blue dashed lines represent a hardened barrier. North is to the left. East is at the top of the page.
Showers West expansion city council work session (Sept. 8, 2023)
Kerry Thomson (Sept. 8, 2023)
Showers West expansion city council work session (Sept. 8, 2023)
Paul Post, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Don Owens Memorial Lodge 88
Councilmember Dave Rollo
Deputy mayor Larry Allen and councilmember Sue Sgambelluri
By November of this year, construction bids are expected to be put out for the expansion of Bloomington’s city hall building into Showers West—which is supposed to house a new police headquarters, and the administrative offices for the fire department.
That was one key takeaway from a city council work session held at noon on Friday.
The hoped-for timeline was described on Friday by project architect Chris Hagan from StudioAXIS. Hagan’s firm was selected by Bloomington for the project in April, after a different firm, Hoefer Welker, had initially been selected in March.
The timeline drew some pointed questions from council president Sue Sgambelluri. Offering some skeptical commentary on the timeline was police union president Paul Post, who was seated at the work session table.
Also in attendance at Friday’s work session—which was held in the Allison Conference room—was Kerry Thomson, the almost certain future mayor of Bloomington starting in 2024. She’s the Democratic Party’s nominee and the only candidate on the ballot, with no registered write-ins.
City of Bloomington director of public engagement Mary Catherine Carmichael
Convention center work session at county courthouse (Aug. 31, 2022)
County commissioner Julie Thomas
On Wednesday at noon, the possible expansion of the county convention center was the topic of a meeting of Monroe County and Bloomington officials.
The gathering at the county courthouse included county commissioners, some county councilors, city councilmembers and the mayor’s office.
It was the first time that representatives from all four groups had sat at the same table on that topic since early March of 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
After about 45 minutes of conversation, the group had not made much progress, but agreed it was worth another meeting.
The city wants to get a deal done by the end of September. So “sooner rather than later” was the city’s wish for a next scheduled meeting.
At the table were: Mary Catherine Carmichael (Bloomington’s director of public engagement); Susan Sandberg and Sue Sgambelluri (president and vice president of the Bloomington city council); Lee Jones, Julie Thomas, and Penny Githens (Monroe County commissioners); and Cheryl Munson Geoff McKim (Monroe County councilors). Continue reading “Potential convention center deal: City, county leaders meet, agree to meet again”→
