By HOI ABC

BLOOMINGTON – The Bloomington City Council unanimously passed a $230 million budget Wednesday night, but the elected leaders said they’re willing to make changes given the uncertainty about COVID-19’s financial impact.

The budget for the next fiscal year is $2.8 million or 1.2 percent more than the current year’s budget, and $5.1 million is earmarked for pandemic-related costs.

The city plans to spend $41 million on capital improvements, which includes road work and other infrastructure projects.

“Just because we’re passing this budget, which looks large, has a lot of items listed that we hope to accomplish, this budget is open to amendment,” said Council member Donna Boelen.

“If the money is not coming in, we’re not going to be able to do a lot of the things that are listed in here,” Boelen also said.

Several constituents of Council member Jamie Mathy demanded elected leaders slash the budget due to the economic slowdown. Mathy said cutting the budget too much would make the problem worse.

Mathy noted the local government is one of the city’s top 10 employers.

“If we start cutting everything out of the budget, that’s actually going to have a significant ripple effect through our community,” said Mathy.

“If we’re not spending money on road construction or things like that, those workers aren’t getting paid, and they’re not going to grocery stores, and shopping,” Mathy said.

Mayor Tari Renner noted the city is “doing very well” compared to other communities nationwide, but that could change.

“If this lasts until September, there could be lots of financial repercussions,” but we’re hoping that does not happen,” Renner also said.

The new fiscal year starts May 1.

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