A long list of upgrades, improvements and initiatives planned for the next fiscal year add up to nearly $112 million worth of capital projects included in the City of Bloomington’s proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year.
City department heads and members of the Bloomington City Council discussed the projects and other key strategies in detail over the bulk of a 100-minute special meeting Monday as part of the ongoing annual budget approval process.
“This represents a significant emphasis on investing in the infrastructure of the city and putting the taxpayer dollars directly to use to benefit the taxpayers,” said finance director Scott Rathbun at the outset of the presentation.
Upgrades to the water system totaling almost $82 million account for almost three-quarters of the proposed capital spending. Those improvements include legally required replacement of lead sewer lines and other critical repairs across the system.
“At the end of the day, we are going to be ahead of the curve in terms of getting into compliance with a lot of these new laws and regulations,” said City Manager Jeff Jurgens, who pointed out water rate hikes were implemented to offset the cost. “We have hit the mark with our lead lines and with getting the surveys and getting the inventory in, and we are on pace to get all of these requirements met.”
Water director Brett Lueschen said the improvements will help modernize the nearly century0-old system.
“This is actually going to bring our system, our transmission mains and some of our pump stations up to today’s standards,” he said. “A lot of our transmission mains and pump stations were built back in 1929, so this is actually doing much improvement that helps bring everything into compliance and bring our transmission mains up to today’s pressures.”
The water improvements include spending $6.9 million on design and construction for a new water quality management system for Evergreen Lake. Lueschen said he was hopeful the city may “get some forgiveness” through possible reimbursement from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Other capital projects mentioned during the lengthy presentation include a $7 million renovation of Locust Street funded largely by the Illinois Department of Transportation, developing plans for a new fire station on S. Morris Ave., and updating the police department’s 22-year-old pistol firing range east of the city, along with facilities projects at Miller Park Zoo and the Bloomington Center for Performing Arts.
The major city initiatives discussed focus on residential housing needs, neighborhood revitalization, various economic development possibilities, and the addition of a new four-person public works crew to increase the city’s asphalt paving capacity.
The proposed funding put toward capital projects represents an increase of more than $30 million from the current budget. The full spending plan for 2027 totals $370.5 million, with a general fund total of $148.3 million. More than half of the general fund is dedicated to public safety.
A public hearing on the budget proposal is set for next Monday, with a council vote targeted for April 13. The new fiscal year starts May 1.
In other action as part of a brief consent agenda, the council approved the execution of a quit claim deed and title clearing for a 16-foot wide, 170-foot long parcel along Sugar Creek that is not contiguous with any city-owned land.
The move aims to facilitate an undertaking by the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District to construct a natural wetlands along a section of the creek corridor outside of city limits. The council vote was unanimous, with two absences [Sheila Montney and Mollie Ward].
In his city manager’s report, Jurgens said drought conditions remain in place but have improved slightly. He also noted work has started on the second stage of the downtown streetscape project.
