Town of Normal staff are signaling a potential need for rate increases in several programs.
Sometime in the next five years, the town will need to spend tens of millions of dollars on sewage lift stations, according to City Manager Pam Reece. Reece said existing annual rate increases of about 2% won't cover the price of new infrastructure.
"We have some sanitary sewer needs that are associated with what are called 'force mains' which means it is pumped to the Bloomington Normal Water Reclamation District," said Reece.
Reece said staff will start a conversation with the town council about how to pay for the new equipment later this year. Any big rate hike would not happen right away. Neighborhoods with lift stations include Ironwood, Northbridge, Heather Ridge, Northfield and the east side of town by Eagles Landing on Airport Road. Each lift station could cost $5-10 million.
Hauling
Town waste fees now pay for only 82% of the amount needed for curbside trash pickup, recycling and landscape waste hauling. Fee revenue is about $4.6 million. Expenses tally $5.6 million. Reece also wanted to hear what the town council thinks about that.
"Conversations that need to happen on whether or not we want to collect fees that cover our service, that have cost recovery, or do we want to subsidize those services with other general fund revenues," said Reece.
Reece said the dialog will not result in changes in this coming budget year, but sometime after that.
Budget
There have been signs the economy is softening, though signals are mixed. Consumer sentiment is relatively low. The bulk of consumer spending is happening at higher income levels. Consumer and governmental debt levels are high. Inflation remains stickily elevated. There have been layoffs in some sectors and growth in others. Overall, unemployment remains low.
This complicates shorter term budget planning. Reece said staff are proposing a “status quo” budget for the fiscal year that begins in April.
“We have historically tried to under-predict revenues. That way, if we are off, if revenues come in lower than expected, we can minimize the risk,” said Reece.
The proposed spending plan assumes sales tax growth of about 2% for FY 2026-27. State and local sales tax generates about 42% of the town’s General Fund revenue.
The proposal under review by council members includes the addition of 2.5 positions. One is in fire department administration, for succession planning, said Reece. Another is in the Innovation and Technology department.
“...to continue our focus on Smart Cities initiatives, data driven decision making and using software and technology to help us increase our efficiencies and help the entire organization,” said Reece.
Shared sales tax dispute
The McLean County Board passed a Memorandum of Understanding negotiated between the City of Bloomington, the town and the county, covering the scope of the audit of the Mental Health and Public Safety Fund that uses shared sales tax money. The governments disagree on several issues including whether the county can legally use shared sales tax money to pay expenses such as record management system replacement and salaries for some jail staff. There’s also a question over who should benefit from interest earned on nearly $22 million that has accumulated in the fund.
The language in the memo is fairly broad and doesn't specifically address some of the issues at stake. Reece said the memo is a starting point to ask the auditing form of Clifton Larson Allen to identify revenues received, how the county has allocated the money and contractual obligations already in place for the funds.
“The three parties, I believe, will come together and see if we can iron that out in terms of intended use of the funds,” said Reece.
She said the parties have not determined whether conversations on resolving the issues will happen during or after the audit.
“I'll have to have a conversation with [Bloomington] city manager Jeff Jurgens and county administrator Cassy Taylor. It probably depends on the timeline,” said Reece. “We can certainly start conversations at any time that our partners at the county and city feel is appropriate.”
The city and town councils must also approve the memorandum.
