McLean County Times

Bloomington's Finance Director Scott Rathbun spoke about the state of the city's finances amid record inflation during a recent city council meeting. 

During a Sept. 26 meeting, Rathbun provided city officials with an update on Bloomington's budget. 

"We're in kind of strange times now with the economy, etc.," Rathbun said during the meeting that was posted on YouTube. "We're four months in, so that's kind of a third of the way through the year. Yet, with some of the revenue categories, we only have two months. So, I'm going to comment just a little bit more on process and how we're handling this versus really digging into the numbers which will, you know, like about month six, we'll start doing projections."

Rathbun noted that while prices for almost everything are up because of inflation, purchasing was at a steady level in Bloomington. The city's tax revenues are looking good, although he admitted that meant it has been harder on the consumer, so the city is working not to make any purchases that would go above budget this year. 

Rathbun pointed to a drop in local motor fuel tax revenue since the pandemic, which he attributed to more people working from home and traveling less. He, however, said the budget pretty much balanced out because of an increase in home rule sales tax, 10% of which goes directly into the city's asphalt and concrete fund. 

During the meeting, Rathbun also explained why some areas of the budget appear to be disproportionate. One example he provided dealt with park permits, nearly half of which are seasonal, and noted an additional pay period and August and final lease payments also lead to what appeared to be high percentages.