Bloomington Mayor Dan Brady doesn't think a close city council vote to dedicate grocery sales tax money to infrastructure is the result of inconsistent messaging.
Last month, the council created the local tax to begin when a similar state tax expires at the end of the year. It was supposed to help narrow a structural budget deficit and be used for infrastructure. Brady broke a tie vote Monday night that now dedicates all the $3 million in estimated annual grocery tax money to infrastructure.
"We tangibly show the electorate, the taxpayers, what are we going to do with the money. It's not just going back to the city general fund," said Brady.
Yet, a proposed amendment to the tax to do that very thing failed for want of a second when the council first approved the tax.
Brady said the city will find other ways to close the structural deficit.
“Prioritize spending. We're going to look at where we can make belt tightening aspects. Look at priorities. When I say priorities of what is service, community outreach. What are things that we can possibly either do without, or put on pause for a period of time to close that deficit? There are other ways to close the deficit than just taking tax dollars and saying we're going to apply it towards that,” said Brady.
Some council members suggested the original messaging was inconsistent. Brady said the staff messaging is different from what the council may later decide.
"Well, I don't think it's a switch at all," he said. "I think by talking to the council members and coming up with the fact that this is not just going to go back into the general fund. When you have some of those very same council members that had constituents upset over continuation of a grocery tax ... what better way to show those you represent who pay the taxes, that we're going to use the money specifically towards something you continually tell us you want us to improve."
Brady said council members who said the decision is a switch can tell constituents upset about the grocery tax the money will be used on things voters say they want improved. Among the priority projects the city may use the grocery tax money to do is the East Street drainage basin and relocation of the Public Works Department, potentially to the old Owens Nursery property.
Honda dealership incentives
Brady also made the case in a WGLT interview the council is justified in approving tax incentives for the Honda dealership along Veterans Parkway to make improvements. It is billed as business retention, even though the dealership has historically been successful and is in a highly visible location.
“Business incentives are used quite often to not only bring business in, keep business and in this situation. I think the millions of dollars in sales tax revenue that comes into the City of Bloomington was a very, very important part of the whole agreement,” said Brady. “I think, it’s an incentive that's going to have greater dividends and long-term effect for the city of Bloomington, in a positive way."
He said the agreement continues a good relationship with business.
The city declined to offer direct payments several years ago to people whose homes were damaged in a flooding event.
“If you look at what's done from the standpoint of the revenue brought in by a business versus a single homeowner, I believe that there's other ways in which those homeowners can be helped,” said Brady.
Brady was a state representative at the time, not the mayor, and helped find grant money for homeowners to recovery.
Kohl’s fire
The Kohl's department store had a fire recently and is in the midst of repairing the store at Eastland Mall. Brady said that also is the kind of business need the city should be engaged in meeting. Brady said he has met with Kohl’s officials and will meet with others from the company this week to explore options.
“Is there something else within the mall on a temporary basis that we could help Kohl's with, where they go through this process? We don't want to lose Kohl’s. We want to be able to do everything we possibly can, from a city perspective,” said Brady, adding he hasn't looked at the sales tax impact of the temporary store closure on city coffers.
“We want to keep those significant dollars, the dollars, that are important in revenue, but it's also for the purpose of serving individuals in this community that go and shop there for clothing and things that they need,” he said.
Fire department 4th shift
Also on Monday, the council ratified a new contract with the union representing firefighters that will add a 4th shift, reducing the hours in a work week and departing from the traditional 24 hours on/48 hours off shift structure. The city will add two firefighters at first to cover gaps in hours the change might create.
The change is designed to ease recruitment and retention efforts. Yet, there is a longstanding shortage of firefighters nationwide that has multiple causes. Brady acknowledged the city is taking a gamble to see if shorter shifts can make a difference.
“You don't know till you try. Bloomington stepped up to the plate with firefighters and with the administration to try this. This is something that is new to the state of Illinois for the most part, and Bloomington, outside of maybe Chicago, is the largest department that's doing this,” he said.
The city, he added, already is hearing from other cities in Illinois that want to explore the proposal.
“We're looking for not only recruitment to be from this particular venture, but also from a safety side of things [workers comp], and longevity of those firefighters and having a little more time off. Looking at the actual number that you're going to add to things, I think is something that we'll find out more about,” said Brady.
Front N Center
The old department store building at Front and Center streets in downtown Bloomington will be leveled by the end of the year and talk is turning to what comes next. Brady said he wants to see development that would bring people downtown and complement events at the nearby arena.
"You hear from individuals, the restaurant side of things. You hear from individuals that some type of family-operated businesses in that area would be great and so, we're open, and any idea is on the table, so to speak," said Brady.
He said the city wants to partner with a developer and is willing to look at incentives.
The local chapter of the Strong-Towns urban renewal group also recently held a charrette to study the possibilities for the site and is making recommendations.
