Special discussion to be held next week on Bloomington budget deficit

Posted on September 25, 2015
Bloomington City Hall
(Joe Ragusa/WJBC)

By Joe Ragusa

BLOOMINGTON – A special round-table discussion will be held Wednesday morning with members of the Bloomington City Council regarding next year’s budget.

Assistant City Manager Steve Rasmussen said part of the discussion will focus on how to use new revenue from the recently-passed one-percent sales tax increase.

“But I think it’s really (the council) deciding how they want to implement the recommendations of the (Budget) Task Force, because we really never had any discussion on that,” Rasmussen said.

The city council approved a one-percent sales tax increase Monday that’s expected to bring in an extra $9.6 million annually. $4.8 million of that is going towards the structural deficit in next year’s budget.

The Budget Task Force made recommendations prior to that vote on how to further close the anticipated $7.3 million deficit.

The special meeting starts at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Osborn Room at the Bloomington Police Department headquarters at 305 S. East Street.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].

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