MCLEAN COUNTY, Ill. (WMBD) — The Mayor of Bloomington is proposing a pause on the sales tax for roughly one year as the city experiences a budget surplus.
In 2016 the city of Bloomington, the town of Normal and McLean County all signed an intergovernmental agreement. The city of Bloomington wants to re-evaluate where to spend $20 million budget surplus.
Bloomington Mayor Dan Brady said that while this intergovernmental contract is roughly at the midpoint of the 20-year-long term, now is a good time to find out what the priorities are for the county. One of his focuses is on how to improve mental health.
“It’s about managing the surplus, looking at the future and truly seeing what the priorities are for everybody in mental illness, which has changed obviously since 2016 in this county,” said Brady
Currently, the sales tax is paying for the costs of the jail and paying down the debt that those costs incurred. This sales tax pause will also serve as a checkpoint so that an audit can be conducted.
During this potential year-long re-evaluation and review process, Mayor Brady has put forth other proposals that are aimed at helping improve mental health facilities in the McLean County jail.
“The first, the real first focus of it was to look at the bond, the cost of building and adding on to the McLean County jail and then to develop some type of programs within the county jail itself.”
“Specifically for mental health for that population that has needed help in that particular area for a number of years and can and continues a lot of the mental health side of things when it comes to someone that needs extra help and professional help in the mental health services. That is not the place to end up in the emergency room at our local hospitals,” he said.
After the roughly year-long pause, the sales tax rate will not increase and will not have an inflationary effect on the price of everyday goods.
“We are just simply wanting an accountability of the dollars, the priorities of mental health needs in McClain County, further, and then also making that audit to make sure what dollars we’re talking about for sure that exist,” Brady said.
Normal Town Council voted to both pause the Tax Sharing and to provide for the payment of an independent audit during its regular meeting on Monday. The audit was unanimously approved, but the council members Rory Roberge and Kathleen Lorenz voted against the pause.
According to Normal City Manager Pamela Reece, all three entities need to vote for the change for it to be approved.
The Bloomington City Council is expected to vote on this issue during its meeting on Monday.
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