Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner believes the Twin Cities may work toward a shared tax agreement following the next mayoral election.
The Bloomington City Council approved changes to a previous economic incentive agreement for the Kroger grocery store on East College Avenue and Landmark Drive in Normal. The new expanded store will move to College and Hershey Road in Bloomington.
The new location will feature five drive-thru lanes equipped with computers for customers to order groceries online. Employees will gather the items on the list and deliver them to the customer's vehicle.
Kroger will receive $2.45 million in sales tax revenue as an incentive over 10 years. Earlier this year, alderman refused to consider tax sharing as a way to circumvent the need for incentive packages for business. Renner said he hopes the Council will reconsider.
"We may be two cities, but we're one community," said Renner. "Certainly it's great for the community when we get a $25.7 million Kroger Superstore, the first one in the state. But if we can make it neutral to the communities, we've got to continue to talk about how we act together to grow the local economy."
An additional economic incentive agreement between a local business and the City of Bloomington will provide benefits to the city's public works. That is according to Bloomington Alderman Amelia Buragas.
The City Council approved the expansion of Sam Leman Toyota Monday night. The car dealership must install a storm water detention under the new parking lots. Buragas said the project is necessary and will help drainage at the Morrissey Crossing.
"Storm water runoff is a large issue in that area and we want to make sure that with this development they're not adding to that problem," said Buragas. "We believe under the current plan we'll be fully remediating it on that property and hopefully providing a little incremental benefit to the nearby areas by removing some of that storm water."
Additionally, the Council met for a special meeting to discuss their contributions to the Mahomet Aquifer Advocates. The City will pay more than eight thousand dollars toward water conservation efforts.
The Council also approved reducing the speed limit from 40 miles per hour to 30 between Fort Jesse Road and Rainbow Avenue near the Spring Ridge subdivision in Bloomington.
The new speed limit signs will be installed within 45 to 60 days.