Common Council Committee/Deliberation Meeting

Bloomington Common Council- Deliberative Session Minutes Council Chambers, City Hall, 401 N. Morton Street, Bloomington, Indiana Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 6:30pm 1. CALL TO ORDER [6:31pm] Council Vice President Piedmont-Smith called the meeting to order. 2. ROLL CALL (* indicates participation via Zoom) [6:32pm] Members: Isak Nti Asare At-Large Courtney Daily District 5, Council Parliamentarian Matt Flaherty (absent) At-Large Isabel Piedmont-Smith District 1, Council Vice President Dave Rollo District 4 Kate Rosenbarger District 2 Andy Ruff At-Large Hopi Stosberg (absent) District 3, Council President Sydney Zulich District 6 City staff, officials, and guests present: Nicole Bolden City Clerk Gretchen Knapp Deputy Mayor Lisa Lehner Council Attorney Jessica McClellan City Controller Kelly Murphy ITS, Technology Support Manager Eric Reedy Reedy Financial Group, President Kerry Thomson Mayor 3. AGENDA SUMMATION [6:33pm] Piedmont-Smith summarized the agenda. 4. REPORT FROM THE MAYOR [6:34pm] Mayor Kerry Thomson spoke about the city’s collaborative work on community housing and economic development. The administration and city staff would be looking at Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to alleviate the lack of attainable housing for long-term Bloomington residents. The city would be implementing several capital improvement projects and a rebranding initiative. 5. BUDGET 2026 DISCUSSIONS [6:39pm] 5.1. Fiscal Overview Jessica McClellan and Eric Reedy gave a general preliminary overview of Senate Enrolled Act 1 (SB1) and its impact on the city’s revenue and finances. The city would lose property and income tax revenue throughout 2026-2032. If Monroe County implemented a new tax structure, the city would receive funding for fire and emergency medical services, resulting in a smaller projected loss. The bill limited the city’s ability to issue general obligation (GO) bonds. Council discussion focused on clarifying specific number impacts of SB1 on the city, GO bonds, and tax increment financing (TIF). 5.2. Initial Mayoral Budget Statement Thomson emphasized the uncertainty of SB1’s impacts, which resulted in her lack of interest in large new initiatives. The administration’s budget priorities were focused on fulfilling prior commitments, basic city services, and infrastructure maintenance. 1 Meeting Date: May 14, 2025 5.3. Budget Task Force Report Deputy Mayor Gretchen Knapp reported on the task force’s work to combine the priorities of the administration and the council. The group defined six budget priority outcome areas: affordable housing & homelessness, high-performing government, economic development, core services (split into public safety, transportation & mobility, and community health & vitality). Asare explained his definition of outcome areas and use. McClellan noted that the city was working on a program inventory to reallocate budget dollars to the greatest need areas. 5.4. Council/Administration Discussion Council discussion focused on clarifying the program inventory noted by McClellan and the possibility of implementing future projects. It was emphasized that this would be an ongoing process with continuing conversations. 5.5. Public Comment Christopher Emge spoke about the discussion on SB1, economic development, and city personnel decisions. Matthew Austin commented on a 2026 potential community composting program. 5.6. Closing Remarks Piedmont-Smith and Knapp discussed next steps with council’s and the administration’s collaboration. Piedmont-Smith thanked the Budget Task Force team and highlighted the importance of working with the county. Asare spoke about SB1’s impact on community members and about clarity for budget outcomes. Zulich reiterated the importance of ensuring the city maintained basic necessary functions. Daily agreed with Zulich and stated that state and federal initiatives would adversely impact the most vulnerable community members. Rollo suggested that more funds be allocated to the Jack Hopkins Social Services Fund. 6. COUNCIL SCHEDULE [8:01pm] Piemont-Smith announced the next regular session of the Common Council will take place the following Wednesday at 6:30pm. She noted that the last session before council recess would be Wednesday, June 4, 2025. 7. ADJOURNMENT [8:02pm] Piedmont-Smith adjourned the meeting. APPROVED by the Common Council of the City of Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, upon this 16 ______ day of July ________________________, 2025. 2  Meeting Date: May 14, 2025 APPROVE: ATTEST: ___________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Hopi Stosberg, COUNCIL PRESIDENT City Clerk Nicole Bolden Clerk’s Note: The above minutes summarize the motions passed and issues discussed rather than providing a verbatim account of every word spoken. Bloomington City Council meetings can be watched on the following websites:  Community Action Television Services (CATS) – https://catstv.net/  YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/@citybloomington Background materials and packets are available at https://bloomington.in.gov/council 3