The city’s 2013 general fund budget should not run a deficit after all, according to the newest projections from Bloomington’s controller.
Controller Sue West, who has been crunching the city’s books for months in the lead-up to the city’s budget hearings, which will begin 6 p.m. Monday before the city council, said Friday that the city should take in about $800,000 more in county option income tax than was expected in 2013 budget calculations. That increase, from $8 million to about $8.8 million, will wipe out a projected deficit of $788,657 for the general fund.
One of the points of emphasis for council members heading into this week’s hearings was the fiscal state of the city, most notably the general fund, the main operating budget for city government. However, West has calculated that the 2.6 percent limit on how much a city can increase its tax revenues from year to year forces local officials to budget with a “new normal,” where spending has to be reduced with deficits still expected in coming years.
Nonunion employees in city government are budgeted to receive a 2 percent raise, following a year where they received $1,000 bonuses.
Mayor Mark Kruzan will also look to add his 100th police officer in this budget, a promise he said he was disappointed to have to fulfill two or three years later than he expected, but the number of city employees has dropped in recent years because of votes by the city council to allow for the voluntary “separation incentive program.”
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