By Greg Halbleib
Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner is touting the city’s balanced budget as a sign of shifting priorities and fiscal responsibility.
Renner says the fiscal 2017 city budget makes street repair a higher priority, but the work still has to be done at a measured pace. Renner says the $10 million earmarked for streets in the new spending plan is about as much as can be handled because other work affects roads.
“Obviously, you don’t want to pave over a street that in five years from now you’re going to have to tear up to fix sewers,” Renner told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin. “We’re trying to do it piece-by-piece and methodically, and it’s not as simple as going out and just paving roads.”
The $206 million budget is nearly 11 percent higher than the previous year. Renner says Bloomington will have a balanced budget for at least the next three years based on financial projections.
“Even with very conservative projections for economic growth, we will have a balanced budget for the next three years,” Renner said. “Our pensions are being aggressively paid off. Unlike most other governments, we have our financial house in order.”
Renner says the city will maintain control over its golf courses instead of privatizing their management because the city is still financially responsible for them. Renner tells WJBC’s Scott Laughlin that city staff found other cities that use private management still use city funds for upkeep and improvements:
“What we found was in almost all communities which have privatized their golf, the private company does not pay for capital expenditures like a roof or a golf cart path,” said Renner. “So if we’re still on the hook for that, what good it is for us to lose control over the quality and administration of our golf courses?”
Renner says the suggestion from a budget task force to consider privatizing golf courses was reviewed for about six months.
Greg Halbleib can be reached at greg@wjbc.com.
