The Bloomington City Council on Monday approved two tax levy updates that will lower the tax rate for residents.
The city approved a move to continue the $22.3 million estimated levy that also was used the previous fiscal year. It means an approximate 9.85% drop in the property tax rate per household. For the owner of a $200,000 home, that’s about 42 cents per month, or $5 a year.
Council member Donna Boelen was the only "no" vote. She motioned to increase the levy by $1 million, but no other council member seconded.
The city also approved a tax rate decrease for the Bloomington Public Library — an increase to the levy at $6.82 million, but at a slower rate than the rise in property values. For the same $200,000 home, it would save $10.80 annually.
Three council members — Nick Becker, Sheila Montney and Kent Lee — voted "no."
Amendment postponed
Also Monday, the council postponed acting on an amendment to city code requiring the Public Safety and Community Relations Board [PSCRB] to no longer require that two of its nine members be between the ages of 16 and 21.
The PSCRB wanted to change the requirement to an option due to a lack of willing people who fit the criteria. No action was taken because of an error in wording that instead would have upped the number of members on the board to 11, while still requiring two youth members.
“If there's a concern that by not having those two filled, it leaves too few people on the existing board, then let us simply create two more positions on the board that are reserved for adults, and work to fill those effectively,” said council member Mollie Ward. “It gives you nine adult members, and then you have the two youth members, and if they aren't filled, then you still have nine adult members.”
Rent control
Several public commenters asked the council to add a referendum to the next local election ballot lifting the ban on rent pricing controls.
“I'm spending a majority of my income on rent,” said Rebekah Mangels, a member of the Lift the Ban Coalition. “My food comes from government assistance and food banks, and we would be very interested to have politicians on our side in order to support our citizens being able to actually afford rent in this county because if not, a lot of us are going to start leaving.”
Bloomington also authorized extending a contract with the Iverson Consulting Group. The contract was initially enacted in August, and the extension will last until December 2025.
