Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner said Tuesday night he believes the city continues to make strides toward becoming a better place to live.
Renner delivered his seventh State of the City Address, touting a long list of accomplishments as well as national recognitions and continued business growth. He expects those trends to continue.
“We’re looking forward to making more progress in the future. I think we’re in much better shape this year than we were even a year ago, much less two years ago,” he said following a Committee of the Whole session. “So, I think we’re on the right track and we want to keep making progress.”
Renner did acknowledge the city still faces challenges, including funding capital projects such as renovating the O’Neil Park Pool, building an east side fire station and expanding the Bloomington Public Library.
“Those are things we may not be able to afford to pay for out of this week’s paycheck,” he said.
Next City Budget
Tuesday’s meeting also included a preview of the budget for the 2021 fiscal year. The projection showed a balanced $109 million total budget that includes $41.5 million in infrastructure improvements as well as a $550,000 surplus.
Finance director Scott Rathbun said the current financial climate has the city in a fairly strong position.
“Revenue trends for the city have been going very positively over the 2020 fiscal year, so we’re extending that into the ’21 budget and taking them up a notch from ’20,” he said.
Renner said the city’s financial standing has been in good shape for a long time, pointing to seven consecutive years with a budget surplus.
“Even though we’ve had some budgetary struggles, we’ve always returned money back to the treasury,” the mayor said.
The budget projection includes a revenue increase of $1.4 million, as well as $8.2 million worth of road improvements partly funded by $4.7 million from the local motor fuel tax. An updated budget presentation is scheduled for Feb. 24, with a public hearing planned for March 9 and final approval targeted for April 13.
“We’re going make sure that we’re providing all the service we can at the best price we can,” Rathbun told the council.
Among the many accomplishments Renner mentioned during his address were: development of a comprehensive plan for the parks and recreation department; establishment of a technology commission and a downtown cultural commission; creation of an economic development department and a community preservation plan; and addressing the contentious recreational cannabis issue.
He also pointed to the city’s No. 1 ranking from PennyGeeks.com among its Top 5 Cities for recent college graduates last January and touted numerous new businesses throughout the city.
“We certainly are seeing continued investment within our community from the private sector and continued attention nationally,” he said, thanking the staff and council for helping Bloomington become “a better place to live, work and play.”
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