The Bloomington City Council voted Monday to approve a one-year pause on contributing revenue to the McLean County mental health and public safety sales tax fund, following last week’s matching action by the Town of Normal.
“We are at this point because for a lot of different reasons. Part of it has to do with the fact that the county was able to secure grants that was used for some of the original intended purpose of the shared sales tax agreement,” City Manager Jeff Jurgens said at the outset of his presentation, noting the county’s current fund balance from the shared sale tax is more than $20 million.
Bloomington and Normal both direct a quarter of the 1% sales tax to the county.
Jurgens said the city’s contribution has steadily increased over the years, to the point where projections for the 2026 fiscal year estimated Bloomington would share $3.5 million, or more than $300,000 each month.
“It’s an opportunity to pause those payments and potentially use that for other priorities without seeking more tax dollars from those in the community,” said Jurgens. “It’s about addressing changes in the IGA [intergovernmental agreement] based on some of the changes in circumstances, and it’s about ensuring that the community’s behavioral health programming is efficient and effective.”
Jurgens emphasized the funding contribution pause will not result in cuts to mental health programming.
“This is not about stopping support for community behavioral health Initiatives; in no way is this about that,” he said. “This remains a high priority, I think, of everybody on this council. I know the town has talked about it being a priority. I know the county has it as a priority.
“I have been told, and I believe that the communities that have designated funding for behavioral health are the communities that get ahead of those issues and that really have an impact.”
In a separate but related item, the council voted to amend the intergovernmental agreement to have an independent third-party audit of the sales tax performed. Both votes were unanimous, with one absence as John Danenberger did not attend the meeting.
The changes come at the about halfway point of the 20-year intergovernmental agreement with Normal and McLean County. Last week, McLean County Board chair Elizabeth Johnson told WGLT suspending the tax collection would be premature.
The amendment pausing the contributions that was approved by the council includes a language amendment advanced by council member Mollie Ward that she hoped would make it “crystal clear” the city is not clawing back money simply to pad the general fund.
Her new wording calls for the city to pledge the money that would have been shared “exclusively for community behavioral health initiatives, services and programs consistent with the McLean County Mental Health Action Plan 2022 update, and any updates including programs explicitly designed to address behavioral health by providing supportive housing, improving access to behavioral health services in underserved neighborhoods, or reducing environmental stressors.”
Downtown parking solutions
With work on the downtown streetscape project coupled with the pending closure of the Market Street garage expected to limit the available downtown parking, the council unanimously approved a request to give the city manager the authority to adopt short-term, cost-effective temporary solutions.
“Our plan is basically: options, options, options. We want options for the people in the downtown,” said Jurgens, adding the city plans to expand on-street parking, reduce costs at certain locations, and lease additional spaces from private entities.
The measure allows Jurgens to execute short-term lease agreements and to temporarily reduce or waive parking fees at city-owned lots for a two-year period. He also can modify time limits for on-street parking for the next 90 days.
Council member Sheila Montney suggested placing an $80,000 total value limit on the amount of discounts Jurgens can authorize. But that idea received pushback because it might limit the city’s ability to negotiate prices, and ultimately was not included.
Lutz Road annexation
The council also approved an annexation agreement with Kieser Farms, along with a development petition and zoning map amendment for a 74.5-acre property at 502 Lutz Road.
“The intent of the annexation is to facilitate a multi-family development on the north side, near Lutz and Morris, which actually can be served by water and sewer. South of that would be a solar farm,” said Development Services Director Kelly Pfeifer.
Earlier in the meeting, a public hearing was held on the annexation proposal. No members of the public spoke as part of the hearing.
Other business
Actions included among several items approved as part of the consent agenda were:
- Buying two Crane Carrier chassis from Alltrux Holdings for $415,000, and two single-arm side loaders from Key Equipment for $348,000 for a total purchase amount of just more than $763,000, as well as trading in two surplus collection trucks for a credit of $145,000;
- Spending just less than $500,000 to purchase a new Vactor sewer cleaning truck from COE Equipment, along with getting an $85,300 trade-in on a 2016 Kenworth truck; and
- Purchasing three Interceptor utility vehicles for the police department for a total of approximately $137,500.
Montney pulled two items related to city code amendments off the consent agenda, seeking more detailed discussions on such amendments. Her motion to postpone the two items until the Aug. 25 meeting passed on a 5-4 vote, with Mayor Dan Brady breaking a tie.
