[music] [music] and welcome. I will call our Bloomington City Council meeting to order this evening. It is Monday, November 24th, 2025. Thanks everybody for joining us here in the council chambers and everyone who is watching online. We will start our meeting as we always do. If you're able, please stand, remove any covering and join me in the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Once again, thanks to all for being here. Uh, thanks council. Good to see you. Special thanks to Council Member Revas for pinch hitting for me last uh, Monday night. Well done. Thank you very much for that. Our first order of business is the approval of the agenda and council. We've got a pretty uh, abbreviated agenda tonight. So, let's take advantage of that if we could. Uh under item two, our introductory items, we've got uh item 2.1, which is the announcement of the creative placemaking Minnesota American Planning Association award. Looking forward to hearing more about that. Uh we have seven items on our consent business. Council member Lman has consent tonight. We have one public hearing, official public hearing. Item 4.1 is a public hearing regarding the Veterans Memorial location update. And then item five, uh, under our organizational business, we've got item 5.1 and it's not an official public hearing. What it is, it's a public comment opportunity regarding the 2026 property tax levy and general fund budget discussion. We will then wrap up with our council policy and issue update and as I said, adjourn hopefully at a reasonable hour this evening. Council, anything else to add or any corrections to our agenda? If not, I would move the agenda as stated. Second >> motion and a second by council member Carter to accept tonight's agenda as stated. No further council discussion on this. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. >> Opposed. Motion carries 70. On to the [clears throat] agenda. Item 2.1. This is the award for the creative placemaking Minnesota American planning association award. Alejandra Paleno and Pelinka, excuse me. I believe Mike Polarmo, Paul Coat from our uh creative placemaking commission are all going to be here this evening. Good evening. Hello, mayor, council members. It's a pleasure to be here tonight. Alejandra Plinka, director of creative placemaking, and I'll pass it along to Mike Polmo for the first slide. >> Sure. So, I'm Mike Polarmo. Obviously, you know me from my role at the HR, but I'm have a different hat on today. I'm the president of the American Planning Association Minnesota chapter. So, uh, we're here today to just, uh, give an award that, uh, the creative placemaking, uh, division has won from APA Minnesota. It's the advancing diversity and social change award. I hate to read that title. Um, but this award is given to uh is handed out. Um, it was competitive award process that we have. We do a call for nominations annually. Uh and we have actually our Wisconsin chapter review our nominations to kind of avoid any bias. Uh so that way we have this unbiased review and we were selected or creative placemaking was selected for this award for their work for their uh creative placemaking plan and the advancing uh advanced engagement that they did to reach communities that don't normally get connected with especially with work with creative placemaking. >> Great. Thank you so much Mike. So, I want to thank you again everyone for recognizing this award. It really reflects the heart of our creative placemaking plan, lifting up diverse perspectives, strengthening belonging, and using art and culture to connect our community. It affirms our shared vision for a more vibrant and inclusive Bloomington. And it directly supports the council's Bloomington together tomorrow together strategic plan priority of building a connected, welcoming community. Thank you to our consultants forecast public art and their executive director Teresa Swetland and to the hundreds of residents, artists, culture bearsers, partners, organizations, staff, and commissioners whose creativity and insight have helped shape Bloomington's creative placemaking work since 2016 in the South Loop and have now guided this citywide creative placemaking plan. This award is truly a reflection of your create collective vision and deep commitment to this community. Um I'd also like to acknowledge creative placemaking specialist Katherine Murray who's here tonight and our other creative placemaking commissioners also here tonight u behind us. They've been a very engaged wonderful commission to work with and I thank them all for their work. And now I'll just pass this on to Commissioner Coat for some final remarks. >> Thank you Commissioner Coat. Welcome. >> Welcome to you too. Thank you so much. >> Um, mayor and council members, the purpose of creative placemaking is to reflect the story of our community and to enhance our neighborhoods with art and culture and intentional community development. And a clear message is made that we care about and are looking out for this place through these efforts. These efforts have farreaching impacts that enhance wellness and connection for residents, welcome visitors, new residents and investors, increase foot traffic for businesses and entrepreneurs, and prevent crime. Alle Katherine and our artists and collaborators do this through literary and visual installations, performance events, cultural celebrations, and uh in the slide that's currently up right now, I do want to highlight one recent project. This is Hante, the healing bridge mural and native plant garden at the Cedar Avenue Bridge. That is just one of four um murals. It's four-sided all around the whole building. Um it's created by local artists Sandy Spieler and Dakota cultural educator Tara Peron, whose ancestral grandmother was born at Bedote and who served this place by cultivating medicines and running a ferry across the Minnesota River 175 years ago. I mentioned that because her story and her contribution and connection to this place and the people she served is represented directly in that mural. See if you can pick her out. Um, and I also really interpret this piece, this particular uh expression of um art and of community and of uh connection to place as um our own stewardship of this place. if we choose to um we could see a piece of her and her spirit in us as well because we are the people who live, work, serve, volunteer here in um in this place. I invite our residents to explore h the place of reflection and all of the city's creative placemaking cultural investments and the volunteers serving on this commission including those with me right now. Thank you and Ali and Katherine and thank you as well for the award and for supporting these far-reaching efforts. >> Well, thank you. Thank you all very much. Uh and congratulations. Fabulous. And and my congratulations. I didn't know you were president of the APA, Minnesota APA. Well done. Um we I I' I've said many a time uh a great city has great heart and we have that here in Bloomington and and it's uh we've seen the value of it both financially, we've seen it culturally, we've seen it spiritually, we've seen it in a lot of different ways and uh greatly appreciate the work that you all do to make it happen thoughtfully and carefully and it's good to see a an award recognizing the outstanding efforts that you put forward. So well done. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mayor. >> [applause] >> Okay. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Good evening. >> Thank you. >> Our consent agenda tonight, as I said, has seven items. Council member Lman has our consent business. Council member Lman, >> I'll do one last uh call for holds. I think the only hold we have is 3 uh 3.7. So then mayor, I'll go ahead and move 3.1 through 3.6. >> Second. >> Motion by council member Lman, second by council member Mua to accept council consent business item 3.1 through 3.6. No further council discussion on this. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. >> Opposed? Motion carries 70. >> Item item 3.7. >> Thank you, mayor. Uh this was held over from our last uh meeting uh to uh get final uh resolution. We had a uh split uh vote on that uh uh around the uh council continue the meetings and the listening sessions procedure uh resolution. And so um I'm not sure if if staff wants to bring that up and speak a little bit more on that in detail or or if we're ready to go. >> Go ahead. Oh, I'd be glad to. Mayor, members of the council, um, as Council Member Loman said last week, uh, we had an item before you amending the council rules of procedure. The original intent of that was, um, a contemplation of eliminating the callin option for listening session. Of course, as you'll recall through the course of our conversation, it was realized that uh and as we've done some research over the past week, inadvertently uh this past summer, uh those meetings started to become recorded. That was not a action that the council had directed or taken. It was just a um inadvertent process that was was started um but [clears throat] does not conform with the council's current rules. So, um, after our discussion last week, uh, I would like just a little more time, uh, to feel the council out about how you would like that listening session to function, uh, what you think is in the best interest for you as council members and the public that is coming to address you. But really just to frame it, uh the two issues we would need to decide are are we going to retain that call-in option or not for people that would uh like to appear off campus but call in uh and then do we want to institutionalize the practice of having those um meetings um live streamed andor recorded by video. But our suggestion mayor would be to have this um continued to December. >> Is that clear council member? Yeah, >> I think in in the in item 3.7, the resolute or the um the uh consent business item, it did does talk about just moving this to a December 2025 meeting where we'll have it'll be a little bit more baked and we'll have an opportunity to talk about it at length then. >> Sounds good. I'm happy to go ahead and move it as any further discussion. Just want to make sure that >> any further discussion, council, council member Lman. >> All right. I'll move to continue consideration of a resolution amending the listening session guidelines and council rules of procedure to a December 2025 city council meeting. >> Second. >> Motion by council member Lman, second by council member Mua to accept accept item 3.7 on tonight's consent business. No further council discussion on this. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. >> Opposed. Motion carries 70. Thank you, Council Member Lman. Greatly appreciate it. Moving along to our item four on the agenda, our hearings, resolutions, and ordinances. We have one public hearing this evening. Item 4.1 is a public hearing regarding our veterans memorial location update. Our maintenance superintendent, Tim Burnt, is with us this evening. Good evening. Welcome. >> Good evening, mayor and council members. Uh tonight before you, we have an ordinance amending chapter 5, the memorial for veterans. Uh what this ordinance amendment is, it's the ordinance uh amendment to update chapter five of the city code um to um update the location of the memorial for the veterans. Kind of background on this. I think everyone is kind of aware of what this was was the memorial for veterans was going to be um proposed to be built on the civic plaza plaza. Unfortunately, we had some uh site constraints and some other issues where it wasn't feasible to build it on the property here. So with the help of city staff and the uh Bloomington Remember Veterans Group approval, we chose Harrison Park for the new site location. So this new site does not interfere or have any change of their visions or goals to the memorial. Actually, I think it enhances the vision of what the group had thought for this memorial. Um so basically this is just kind of a a cleanup amendment uh clerical to change the location from Civic Plaza to Harrison Park. Thank you so much, council. Any questions? Questions on the presentation? All right. If not, we will move into a public hearing. Thank you. Don't go far. I'm sure there'll be questions to answer. We're going to open a public hearing. And uh just to let you know the ways that we're going to run the public hearing and our public comment opportunity at our next item as well. Is that uh speakers, if you want to come up one by one, you're certainly welcome to. We need you to identify yourself and after you're done speaking, you can probably sign in. Take the the the uh page and and sign in. We uh we will you get five minutes to speak by the shot clock on the wall. You'll know how much time you have left. If you ask questions or or looking for clarification on something, what we'll generally do is wait until the end of the public hearing to answer those questions just so we're uh we're not shooting from the hip and trying to come up with answers uh off the cuff. And uh it's it's just an easier way of doing it. And I think that's everything. So, I will open item 4.1. Now, this is a public hearing on the Veterans Memorial location update. Is there anyone in the council chambers who wishes to speak on item 4.1? >> Good evening, Miss Blessing. >> Hello. Thank you. Um, mayor, council members, um, I am Kate Blessing from the Bloomington Remembers Veterans Group, president of the organization currently, and I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you once again for your support to let you know that the new location, I think, has a lot of really, uh, wonderful benefits. As Tim said, I think it actually enhances the project. And so, in fact, uh, a couple of anecdotal things. Um, we've heard from several neighbors, uh, that are right by Harrison Park that have reported that they really think that this will be a nice place for it. They're very proud to have it down the road right from their home. Um, additionally, we've had several veterans a lot of connection through the farmers farmers markets and a lot of veterans have reported that they really feel that this will be a nicer place to be more quiet, more serene, better for gathering, all of those things. So, I just wanted to confirm that that is um what we're hearing from the community. So, thank you very much for all of your support. >> Thank you so much. Thanks for being here this evening. >> Absolutely. >> Anyone else looking to speak tonight? Priyanka, do we have anyone online or on the phone? >> Mayor, we do not have anyone online. >> Last call for anybody in the chambers to speak. >> Council, no one on the phone. No one in the chambers coming forward. I would look for a motion to close the public hearing on item 4.1 this evening. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by council member Mua, second by council member Dalisandre to close the public hearing on item 4.1. No further council discussion. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. >> Opposed. Motion carries 70. >> Council discussion, comments, thoughts on this. Council member Dalisandro. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just wanted to um thank the folks from uh Bloomington Remembers Veterans for being here and working through this with us. Do we have an understanding of when uh we will begin construction as a result of getting this? Is this the last step in the process of of planning for that? >> Mr. Baron. Good evening, mayor, council member Alessandro. Um, so this will go out to bid after the first of the year and we're planning on construction starting in the spring of 26 with it being finished uh around October of 26 in time for uh Veterans Day in November. >> Wonderful. Want just wanted to make sure that was still a plan because I know that's important to the folks that are here. Great. Uh if there's no other comments, I'd be happy to make the motion, but >> one more call for the council. Anything? Council member Disandro. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, I move to adopt uh an ordinance approving uh the amendment of chapter 5 of the city code related to a memorial for veterans. >> Second >> motion by council member Dalisandro, second by council member Mua to adopt an an ordinance amending chapter 5 and article 7 of the city code related to memorial for veterans. No further council discussion on this. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. 70. >> Well, thank you very much. It's uh we're getting there eventually, right? We I'm I'm excited to I'm excited to see this location. I think it's going to be outstanding with the uh with the design of the memorial and uh just like how this has has come together and so appreciate the work that you all have put into this for a lot of years now. For a lot of years now and we will get this open by next November. We will get this done. Can't wait for it. Thank you. Item five on our agenda is organizational business and item 5.1 is a public comment opportunity for our 2026 property tax levy and general fund budget discussion. Ki Carlson is going to start us off with a presentation and then we will open up the public comment opportunity. >> Good evening, Miss Carlson. >> Good evening, Mayor and Council. So the first slide that I have here um is just an overview of the 2026 tax levy and how it's moved through the process this year. So as you know we started with a conceptual levy increase of 17.92%. So that is what we were looking at at the end of last year around this time just with everything that was coming in. And so after working through department requests and changes to the debt schedule, uh we did bring that down to a 9.44% increase for the preliminary tax levy. And then since then, as I'm going to go through here, we've continued to refine the budget and I identified some additional reductions and are proposing a a final levy for 2026 of a 7.48% increase. So, for this evening's presentation, I'll share a quick review of the 2026 um budget process calendar, a summary of public feedback, the preliminary levy that council adopted in September, the reductions that have brought us from a 9.44% increase down to the proposed 7.48%. And the updated levy and general fund budget request for 2026. And then after my presentation, as you said, uh, mayor, we'll open the floor to public comment, uh, where each person will have, uh, three minutes and then we will be looking to the council for discussion and guidance on the final levy that you will be setting on December 15th. So just to do an overview of our budget process for 26 and um how we are now at tonight's uh budget discussion. We began in April and so April through July that was uh working with our new priority based budgeting software um also refining the conceptual budget request from last year and meeting with departments. And then on August 18th, the council held a study session on the conceptual levy and budget, which also did include a um an opportunity for public comment. Then on September 8th, council set the preliminary levy at 9.44% increase. And then uh later in September, we had an update um on party based budgeting. And then throughout October, we held a series of department budget presentations and discussions. Then, uh, last week, November 17th, was the utility rate public hearing and the utility fund budgets were set and approved, which brings us tonight. Um, and then on December 8th will be the official public hearing, the truth and taxation public hearing, and then on December 15th, the council will set the final tax levy budget. So, just first going through some of the public feedback, um, what we've heard. So um start off with the national community survey. So that's the standardized statistically valid survey that captures residents opinions about Bloomington livability and quality of life. And we have participated in this survey since uh every year since 2012. And so residents um have continued to rate Bloomington highly on our natural environment, open spaces, and recycling programs. We did also see notable improvements in the scores for police services, crime prevention, and animal control. Uh, preventive and mental health services rebounded and are now above the national average for our survey results. And residents also reported a stronger sense of belonging, inclusivity, and volunteerism. So overall, city services received um very strong ratings uh for in fire at 96%, police 89%, water uh 92% and snow removal at 85%. And then also I'll note the Bloomington uh briefing and the city website remain the top communication uh sources for for residents. We also, as we've had in past years, we have a let's talk Bloomington budget page. So, here's a summary of the feedback we received on that page. Um, this is as of last Tuesday when we were preparing these slides for tonight's presentation. So, the full report is included in the council packet with all the detailed comments. Um, and then since publishing, there's been some additional comments. I think about five more comments have come in so far, and it's still open for comments. So around 16 total, but we will include anything new that comes in for the December 8th presentation in the agenda packet. Um the top themes if you go over kind of overall sentiment so far is um overall the comments um highlight um like about half uh have an interest in new initiatives and uh and also um the other half are more of a concern about affordability and just want to make sure that this um and have questions about the specific spending priorities of the city. And I know um most of the budget related emails and calls go to you. They go to the city council members. But what I have here is just a recap of what we've received in finance to give you that information as well. And the main concerns uh we've heard um we've and we've only we haven't received um a a ton. We've had about uh 10 or so. But uh those concerns are um from residents have been about just rising costs and overall affordability and residents having questions about spending priorities. They're raising worries about um business closures and empty buildings. We've also heard um we've heard opposition when the we were looking at reducing sidewalk snow plowing. There was um email we got in finance about a concern for that and thinking that wasn't um a lot of budget savings. Um but overall I would say the theme is just on financial uh restraint and a desire for thoughtful strategic budget decisions. We also as we've been doing recently we brought the budget information table to five major community events this year. So in May we were at the public works openhouse and the police department openhouse. In June we participated in the Junth celebration and the pride festival. And in August, we were at a farmers market. And so these events where we're going out continue to be where we see the most interaction with residents about the budget. Um we've been doing budget, community engagement, public engagement around the budget for about the past five years. And we've learned that having standalone budget events don't draw as many participants. So, as you know, um because of this, we shifted our approach going out into the community to where we know people will already be gathered. And what we found too is going to events where there's tables like these um types of events seem to have the most interactions where people will stop by and talk and um give input. And then just as a recap from August 18th, this was the first time earlier in the process where we've had opportunities for um public to comment at city council meetings. And so that was uh we did that this year. We had um about three we had three residents that came and key feedback from that again focused on concerns about rising property taxes and the need for senior tax relief and um but also the importance of protecting essential services. And I'll just since I have the opportunity, I want to highlight we do um have a standalone u budget page on the city's website that has presentations um that we give about the budget. The the slides, the reports, they're queued up on the council videos when we talk about budget budget. If the mayor has a council minute where he talks about the budget, we put it on here as well. Um so just designed to make an um all a place that's um all the budget information is accessible in one place and uh also this is where the there's a direct link to the let's talk Bloomington budget page and also past year's budget books. So, uh, more than half of the overall budget increase for 2026 is tied to public safety, primarily as the fire department continues its transition to a combination staffing model. Um, the long-term plan is to is um the plan is to grow the staffing to a 78 full-time and 75 part-time uh firefighters and to upgrade all six fire stations for full-time coverage. and that uh the first of our two federal safer uh grants um that have each funding 18 firefighters. Uh the first one started in 2023. It's going to be ending in 2026, early 2026. Um uh so that's impacting this budget. And then also our American Rescue Plan funds um where those will be um ending at the end of this year that has helped um bring on three um badly needed battalion chief positions. Um and then just ongoing costs uh with that. And then on the police side, we did have a very um generous one-time state public safety aid um amount that we received from the state and uh we were able to bring on positions in police that we now need to absorb into the general fund. And then just to recap, on September 8th, the city council set the preliminary 2026 property tax levy at $96.2 million. So that was a 9.44% 44% increase from the 2025 levy. And so just um to highlight too, this amount uh does not reflect the H or the Port Authority. This is just the city levy. And I'll sh share with you the Minnesota Department of Revenue recently released the statewide preliminary property tax levies for 2026. So for cities across Minnesota, the preliminary levies totaled just over $4 billion and is and total is an 8.7% increase over last year. So just to provide some kind of context and show that many cities are experiencing challenges like we are with cost pressures going into 2026. Um also just adding some slides that we haven't added recently in the past. But um first one here is on fiscal disparities. Um, it's a regional system that shares commercial and industrial tax base growth across the metro. And because Bloomington has a strong tax base, we do contribute more to this regional pool than we receive back, which lowers our tax capacity. So, this um helps just to put give some context of why Bloomington uh has relies more on local property taxes than some of our neighbors and why our tax rate can appear higher than some peer cities that do receive fiscal disparities. And then similar to that, another thing that puts pressure on our tax levy is that we do not Bloomington does not receive any LGA. We do not receive any local government aid um from the state. So LGA, local government aid, is a state program that helps cities fund basic services without relying only on property taxes. And the formula that's used to determine whether cities re receive um local government aid, it compares each city's revenue need with its ability to raise revenue through its tax base. And so because again Bloomington does have a strong commercial and residential tax base, we do not qualify. So just for comparison, so if you look at the top five cities in Bloomington, uh like for 2025, um Minneapolis and St. Paul each, uh received over $80 million in local government aid. Duth receives over 35 million and Rochester receives uh 5 million and Bloomington receives zero. So just another factor that contributes to our greater reliance on local property tax levy than some other cities. So here's uh the slide explaining um how to bring the levy down from the preliminary 9.44% to the 7.48. So uh we've identified about $1.7 million of reductions. So um this includes a reduction in debt service um based on how the bond sales um came in recently were much better than forecasted. Um, also just looking at our um paid on call firefighter expenses um how they've been trending, what we're forecasting out, we're able to um bring that down as well. And then um not as big but also just uh recognizing that we do um have kind of a base level amount for fire uh state aid um that we had not been consistently um or had not been budgeting but we wanted to recognize that we pretty much consistently always have that. So we wanted to get that into the budget. Um, just looking through everything, looking at the permit revenues and where we are to date and what we had budgeted, uh, we were are comfortable bringing that up 625,000. Um, so still not back to the levels that were a couple years ago, but more um, not what we're budgeting for next year is going to be still less than where we're going to end up for 2025. Um, but more than where we were initially budgeting. So all those changes are the $1.72 million that are um bringing it down to the 7.48%. And so the updated overall chart of the funds that have tax levy support is here. And the general fund increase is about 5.5 million. Um and that's really the only one that has um changed other than the debt service one that is not as high as originally um shown. And then um I know there's questions about when you take the city, the HR, the port all together. So I just wanted to show what that looks like now. Um before um bringing the city's tax levy, proposed tax levy down, that was over 10 10%, I believe it was 10.86%. So just showing it all together, um that is now uh 9%. And then again, this is looking at the revised general fund budget. Um, so property taxes do make up about 67% of the general fund revenues. This is um on the top part where the revenues are. And then the next highest revenue that comes in is our lodging and admissions taxes at 9%. And then on the expenditure side, you can see public safety accounts for nearly half of the general fund budget with police at almost 41 million and then fire at uh just under 17 million there. And then these next slides, it's the same information but just showing it more visually. So the um first pie chart here is the the general fund revenues. Um and you can see the property taxes make up the majority. Um, but there's also other important sources that we bring in um to fund our services. So, like I said, the lodging and admission taxes, the permit and licensing fees, and then also some grant revenues. And then on the expense side on the right there is public safety is the largest portion of the uh general fund with police and fire. And then um the rest is spread across services like public works, parks and recreation, community development, and then uh general government functions. And it's important to note that not all these expenses are funded by property taxes as we saw on the previous slide that uh other revenues do also help support these services along with the property taxes. So, I just want to take the chance to mention again that in two weeks we'll hold the official truth and taxation public hearing for the 2026 budget and tax levy and that will take place here December 8th at 6:30. And that concludes my presentation. Um, so we've added the informal public comment opportunity. So, I'll turn it over to you. >> Thank you, Miss Carlson. Council, any questions of Miss Carlson before we get into the public comment opportunity here? Seeing none, thank you much. Good presentation and and thanks for the the work that your staff and and all actually who have put the time into bringing that number down. Uh so well done. Thank you for that. So I will open now our uh our public comment opportunity for item 5.1. Um, again, as I mentioned, it's an opportunity for folks to come forward. Um, we have uh three minutes per speaker on this item, and I'll I'll hold you to that just to make sure everybody has the same amount of time to speak. You can start. I promise. I promise. Um, I also uh I I do want to point out this this was something that the council has brought up uh in response to what we've been hearing from residents for a number of years that more opportunities to comment on or talk to or discuss the budget before we get to the truth and taxation hearing. This is the second time I think we have done this. We also have now the truth and taxation hearing coming up. Um, and so we've got we're we're trying to provide more opportunities and more uh avenues for input for residents to talk about our budget uh as we're still as it's still in in progress and still being made. So, um, that's what that's what the whole idea behind all of this was and and I think it's it's helpful and workable. So, I am going to open item 5.1 right now. Our our please come on up. We're going to open our public comment opportunity [snorts] and again if you could identify yourself. >> I definitely will. Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, council members. My name again is Suzanne Boston, and again, I have lived in Bloomington my entire life. I was here before Jefferson High School was even built. I bought my house almost 30 years ago, raised my family here, shoveled the walks, mowed the lawn, paid every single tax bill you ever sent me, no matter how high it climbed. Tonight I'm furious because you've taxed me out of my home. You know, um, this year my property taxes jumped 12%. Last year you hit me with another 10. That's more than 22% in two years while my fixed income barely moves. And tonight you're sitting here preparing to ram through another increase for 2026 on top of the 98% you already gave us for 2025. You know, I've spent three decades putting every dollar I could find towards paying down my mortgage so this house would finally be mine. Your endless tax hikes have stolen years off those payments. I'm going backwards because of decisions that made right here in this room. Almost a million dollars to remodel the one bathroom in city. I didn't I didn't vote for that. A $100 million recreational center. Okay, I kind of voted for that a little bit. You know, nearly $600,000 a year of my tax money going straight into your own pockets. I mean, y'all get paid, right? You don't get paid. Okay. Well, some No, no, I know that. But, you know, I mean, it's it's like you do get paid. Okay. And I'm And my money is not going up. Mine's going down. Anyways, it's just outrageous. and and and you know, I mean, the fact that, you know, we're adjusting the the garbage rates, is that really a help? My trash bill is $20 a month. You just took hundreds from me and my property taxes, a few pennies off garbage. Pickup isn't really relief. It's kind of like a slap in the face. You know, you keep bragging about making Bloomington worldass, but the people who actually built the city can no longer afford to live here. seniors on fixed incomes, widows, veterans, lifelong residents were being priced out so you can chase tourism and mall sales taxes that doesn't pay one dime of my property tax bill. You know, what specific cuts are you guys making in 2026 to keep the levy increase and inflation or lower? You know, I don't know what they are. Where is the real relief for seniors and fixed income homeowners? Um, and maybe start those cuts with your own salaries a little bit. Maybe because if you don't stop this now, I'll be forth I am going to be forced to sell my house. I can't live here. I can't I can't do this anymore and I'm your time is up. We're hitting >> very frustrated. Thank you so much. I talked really fast. >> Well done. Thank you. others who would like to speak. >> Good evening. My name is Linda Blair. Property taxes are meant to only fund a city's core obligations: public safety, essential infrastructure, parks, roads, sidewalks, and basic operations that cannot be supported by user fees. These dollars must cover the non-negotiable services every resident relies on. Police, fire, EMS, 911, safe streets, and maintain public facilities. When property taxes are diverted to optional programs, expanding bureaucracy, consultant-driven pet and nice to have projects or cosmetic upgrades that add no real value to residents, it becomes a clear mistrust mistrust of the public. there is enough. When there's enough money in the coffers for pet projects after the city's essentials are covered, it's time to lower taxes. The assessors, Bloomington assessors 2025 report says that the median price of a single family home is 6 $365,400. You spent a million dollars to redo that bathroom over there. 11 toilet stalls do not equal roughly three homes in Burnsville. That was a waste. This kind of spending shows little respect for the residents who have provided you with these dollars. Every Bloomington resident has a finite amount of money. The refreshing of the painting on this building, the mural in East Bloomington, the art of mechanical buildings or boxes in other places, the new landscape, the resurfing surfacing of this parking lot. You hired outside companies to study discretionary spending ideas and you're expanding bureaucracy. You are taxing Bloomington residents for projects that are outside core responsibilities of the city government. City council authorized a study for the traffic on Bloomington Ferry. I live off of that road. We attended both of those meetings. I talked to two different city council or city members who told me about the accident um on Lindale or Lindstöm and Bloomington Ferry that was among the highest in this in the city. The plans and the options given did not address that safety issue at all. I talked to one person who was on the com in the company that you had hired to do this study. I asked him what I asked him about the process to come up with these options for the council. He told me, well, he had just joined the team and he was figuring it out himself. Halfway through this project, you are getting advice from a company that doesn't even have a dedicated team to decide what you might learn about that road. That's a waste of money for my tax dollars, and I'm very frustrated about it. In recent months, we've heard about Minnesota layoffs. The new report shows that Minnesota has slid in G the GDP, job growth, per capita income, and growth in median household incomes. The November 18th ADP report shows private sector employers have trimmed an average of 2500 employees per week in four weeks in the four weeks ending on November 1st. When businesses around you are rights sizing their operations, it seems appropriate for the city government to take a hard look as well. Upper management in this city is large and highly compensated. We have a new city manager and two assistants. I don't really think that the market supports that kind of management at this point. >> Blair, you're past your three minutes. I'm sorry. Thank you though. Thanks for coming in this evening. And folks, we've talked about clapping in the past and you know we have because if I allow clapping then I'm going to have to allow booing and no that that's not okay. That's not how we conduct ourselves here. That's not how we conduct ourselves. Anybody else wish to speak? [snorts] Mayor, city council, uh John Hootmaker, resident since ' 92. I do disagree with you, Mr. Mayor. I think the residents have a right to express their opinions of people speaking whether it's good or bad. Uh remember this is our chambers not your chambers. Um I continue to worry about that we come to these meetings and no one really listens. No one hears what we say. I've gone to a lot of the listing sessions which are just virtue signaling sessions by the way just so you can tell everybody that you had them. Um this year I'm feeling like one of the lucky ones. I don't have that great an increase in my property taxes this year, but somehow my property value went down, but my taxes still go up. [snorts] But I do worry about the other residents around here. Somebody getting 12%. East side, west side, north side, southside, doesn't matter. Something is not going right around here. Webster defines the word stop as to cease doing something, to desist. You're talking about 7.8 is fine, but you're you're at 9%. The school wants six almost 6%. The county wants 8%. I don't know what the Met Council wants. When is it going to stop? Inflation is maybe 3%, three and a half percent. I've said this to you guys before. You seem to miss out on that. You increase these things. That creates the inflation that then you use against us to continue to increase it. Miss Carlson did a nice job of starting at 17%. Well, you could have told us you're going to start at 29% and look, now we're at 7.8%. What a great job we've done. You should start at zero. When I looked at the comprehensive report that was done by Red Path, as far as I can tell, the city had $300 million in its coffers at the end of the year. That seems to cover three years worth of budgets. Why are you asking for any more money from us? [clears throat] The general fund balance went up by $4.5 million. We made $4.5 million. Aren't we supposed to be a nonprofit? Why is it Why are the increases? The water fund went up by four $4.8 $8 million. Are you planning for things like the King Kades building, the next King Concaides building that's gets sold from $300 million to $6 million and we lose all the property taxes there? Are you planning on that? We add people I don't think we need. That's already been talked about. We overregulate our businesses. I've said this to you guys before. Between the smoking bands and the ESSL, now you're trying to get the park and go people to give up their land to do other things to keep regulating it. Permits just went up. That's how we're reducing the budget. We're not business friendly. We're pricing our people out of their homes. You guys are supposed to be the ones that lead this whole thing. You guys are the supposed to be the ones that tell Miss Carlson, "It's zero. Figure out how it's zero. Not it's a big number and do your best to reduce it." $1.7 million reduction. Again, that's almost two bathrooms that you guys put into the city hall that we didn't need to spend the money on. Thank you. Anyone else? >> Uh Julian Bergerson, mayor, city council. Um I was here at the last um open forum and um I spoke about uh seniors uh losing their housing. Um I was out door knocking um for another can for a candidate for city council. Um, and now I have the true stories. >> Yeah, we we heard from a number of seniors who said, "I'm I'm going to lose my house. I I can't afford to stay in Bloomington." I also heard a number of people who have said, "We're moving." It was probably 10. Now, this list was not necessarily red friendlies. These were veterans that were targeted. These were people who had voted in a national election, but not a city council election in the past number of years. So, these were not folks that were heavily engaged. Um, one person didn't even know what the city council did, newly moved into Bloomington, renovated a house. I'm not here for myself because I'm fine. My husband and I are fine. We didn't purchase a house up to our limit. Um and so but I am here to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and that is seniors who have a hard time getting out to these city council um meetings and um and for families who are working two and three jobs. And right now, you know what they're home doing? They're making dinner. They're helping their kids with homework. These are the people that you never hear from because they're busy trying to claw to survive. When I saw the H 67% increase, that is obscene. And we're paying that as well. And I know for a fact that those HA homes do not pay property tax. So how many homes, and I'm going to do a foyer because Mr. Mayor, I cannot rely on you when you say I'll follow up with you. You promised me last December 8th that you were going to follow up with me on a decision. Have not heard a thing. Go look at Yeah. And Mr. Walker, I will be speaking to you about that issue later. So, in my last 25 seconds, you don't care about the people of Bloomington, the homeowners. If you're going to keep raising our taxes by 8, nine, 10%. You you are going to lose longtime residents. And good luck because you're going to get renters who have no engagement. They move in and out. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Anyone else? All right. With that, council, I will close the public comment opportunity for item 5.1. Uh now this officially is uh under organizational business. There's obviously no decisions made tonight. This is continuing the conversation. We'll have the uh truth and taxation hearing and then have our uh our final decision in mid December. Uh thoughts, any comments council wants to make? Council member Rebas. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just have a couple of comments. Unfortunately, they kind of align with the comments that we have heard already, but I think it's necessary to hear it. Um, for a start, it's u as a city and I feel as much as part of the staff and the city now that I have been in the council for a couple of years. It is unfortunate though that that you know I got to speak to a lot of residents also. I haven't been working. I've been lucky that I've been home uh relaxing for the last couple of months and receive a lot of phone calls and followed up on people and so the question or comment that I have is what do we have as a city uh as me mechanisms that are in place to or under consideration to provide relief to residents especially seniors who are struggling with rising property taxes and groceries and gas and utilities. That's one of the comments I have. I'm just going to go quick so we don't stay here too long. Uh the other one is um how does the budget incorporate equity considerations such as allocating resources to underve underserved communities or addressing disparities in service delivery. And the last one but not least is how can we as a city improve the timing and visibility of public feedback opportunities especially when major decisions like setting the preliminary levy occur before outreach materials are distributed. I'm specifically talking about the H8 uh the um port authority and all the other um utility franchise fees that we have. I mean, let's face it, we all know those uh fees are taxes, and when you add them all up, it's not the number that we see in front of us. It's a much I wouldn't say a much larger number, but it's a higher number than the one that we're actually presenting to the public. So, if we can do anything about uh we did great this year. I know that, you know, have been great improvements in providing the public with information early. they have participated twice in public hearings which didn't happen the first year that I was part of the council. So it's all it's all great but I would personally like to see more uh transparency when it comes to the budget so people can have more input. Um one thing I have to say on as a as on speaking on behalf of the city is that we are a big city and our infrastructure is older than some of the surrounding um cities around us. I I have firsthand information uh from Eden Prairie, Minnotonka, Edina, Richfield and obvious obviously their taxes are uh quite lower than ours but they're are much smaller than ours in area and their infrastructure um in Prairie for instance is not a city that is 50 60 years old as as we are. So, you know, that explains some of the higher taxes that we have. But at the same time, I I believe that if we give much uh much more information and earlier to our residents, I think they will have a better understanding and comprehend why we do what we do. U Thank you, Mr. Mayor. That's all I got. >> Thank you, Council Member. Council member Carter. >> Uh thank you, Mayor. Um, so I do just want to clarify, we haven't actually passed an HA or a port levy at this point, right? Those are the levy increases that those separate bodies passed and are recommending to the council. >> Yes, that's correct. >> Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Um, so for those who are listening tonight, just please know that those are not the final levy numbers and that the council still has to vote on those numbers. Um, I also wanted to make a clarifying point. So, the city council does make an annual salary, I guess. Um, I think I make $12,000 a year doing this work. So, I hear you on cutting, but even if we cut our salaries in half, it would not do anything to that levy percent. Um, and in fact, I don't think our salaries have increased. I'm looking at Lori for what, 20 years? I don't I have no idea. >> 40 years. I mean, I don't know if they've ever been increased. >> So, and not and I'm not advocating for an increase. I'm not. But I'm just saying that they're very low. I mean, I think Jack Beloga made did some calculations when he was on council. I think we make about a dollar an hour, right? We're not doing this to get rich. Um, we are doing this because we do care and we're residents. We're homeowners. I have a family. Um, I mean, we're all dealing with these issues and I have family in Iowa and small towns. We are not the only ones in this position, unfortunately. Um, also another clarifying um, point, we have to keep a certain percentage of a certain percentage of our budget in our coffers. We can't just spend down our coffers. We're not allowed to do that. Um, and then I also want to clarify that we hear from you guys and we listen and we actually hear from hundreds and hundreds of other people throughout the year. We start this process in April. I actually disagree with you, Council Member Rivas. I am so proud of the fact that we go out in community and we ask people questions about the budget. Anybody can email us or call us at any point in time. Um, we had a public listening session when we were proposing the preliminary levy. We have this session tonight, which we've never had these sessions in the past. This council decided to add additional opportunities for people to weigh in. Um, there's another Truth and Taxation hearing coming up. I mean, we just we have we have the Let's Talk Bloomington page. I mean, to say I would love to know other ideas for how we could engage more um because we've added all of these opportunities and and so the idea that um I I this idea that we're not being transparent, we're not asking the residents. I mean, I just I'd fundamentally disagree with it. We're listening. we just might not agree with everything you're saying or we might have additional information um that if you had two and we could talk with city staff um you know you may still disagree but it might help right for you to understand where where we're coming from or where staff is coming from. Um so I did have a couple of questions um for the local government aid. I am so confused by that because how does Rochester have not I mean how do they have less of a robust residential and commercial base than we do? So they get millions of dollars every year but we don't I don't understand the local government aid piece. So, uh, mayor, council members, council member Carter, we could come back with some additional, uh, information on how that is calculated, but I think some of it is, um, goes to the age of those communities compared to Bloomington, but there are other factors that are in there as well. >> Okay. Is there anything we can do to influence that? I guess I'm I'm guessing I'm not the first council member to ask that question. Uh, I will say, council member, in my time on the council, I think I remember one year when Bloomington received $144,000. >> It might have been two years that we received that amount. Yeah. And that's the only time that I can recall Bloomington receiving local government aid. >> Okay. All right. It'd be great if we could somehow influence that. >> [clears throat] >> But um and then I am curious too, I know I I heard the I've heard the number in the past, but how much of our revenue comes from basically the Mall of America and the hotels and because I think one of the people who commented made a made a point about that, but the fact is is we do receive quite a bit of revenue from the mall and the hotels. And so I'm curious if you remember off the top of your head, >> mayor, council members, council member Carter, I don't have that in the top of my head, but we can get that information as well as um how much of the property tax taxes in general are paid um by the mall. >> Well, and and if I could, council member and uh Kari, uh it's not just the property taxes paid by the mall and the surrounding properties, but it's their contribution to the income of the city. So, the liquor and lodging tax to the admissions taxes and so on. Uh, which are it's I recall it at like 19% or something like that. It might total revenues, not property taxes, something like that. Maybe I'm wrong. >> Mayor and council, we'll do the research and um give you the information. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, okay. I think that was my last question. I don't have any other comments. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Reass. I just want to clarify what I mentioned on regards to um transparency. I am aware that last year we made it a point to pass uh transparency uh changes to the presentation of the budget. However, what I'm asking for is to put everything out there so people have a better understanding so it doesn't come up as a surprise when we're already discussing almost accepting the levy as as it comes. What I'm asking is for us to provide all the information. I am aware and I can I want to reiterate to that to the public as well that the poor authority and the two completely different taxes. However, when it comes down to it, it comes out of the same pocket. Okay? It comes out of the to the residents. It doesn't matter. And that's what I'm asking and I know we are very capable of doing this. Put it out there in April. Even if it's just an idea, put it out there so that everybody knows that it's coming and it doesn't look as a surprise because the reality is that we all each and every one of us look bad if we don't because I I had to I mean I I honestly tell you I hundreds of phone calls and emails that I've been actually interacting with a lot of people because I have the time and it's it's it's kind of sad to hear what they have to say and I believe that if we give him the information and I I do appreciate I know last year you provided me with his own tax uh property tax video, right? [snorts] Uh and I took it to a presentation. Everybody in that group, 60 people were very happy with the explanation and it was something that you provided to me. I I I remember that. So if we if we give people the information early in in the process, they're very happy with it. And I don't think we will have uh people upset about it. They will be still probably upset but they wouldn't come out here and and you know have their fr uh just throw their frustrations at us because they are well informed early in the process. That's all I'm asking for. I'm aware but that we have made strides when it comes to this because compared to last year this has been open to the public. Okay. Really open. That's all I got to say. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Nelson. >> Yeah. Thank you, Mayor. I just like to echo the comment that I appreciate staff's work to have more input throughout the process. Um I will also note I serve on the port authority and that goes through a similar process where there was a preliminary levy done a couple months ago that was all public. It was also brought forward to this body and then um it will be brought forth again. So that is put out. I it's not April I can tell you that but uh you know that may be a little bit of a but it has been out there for months. All of those numbers have been out there for months. So, um, if people are struggling to find that, reach out to your council member. Uh, we can reach out to staff. We can help you get that information because I hear that as a concern. So, I appreciate that. Um, next thing I just wanted to say quickly is I I I share the concerns particularly with the people that are struggling. We've got a from my opinion a economy that is working very well for some and not very well for others. And uh we have people struggling whether they be seniors or low income or you know individuals or with disability or or whatever it is. There are people that are struggling with the cost of food and energy and all that stuff which are not going down. They're they're going back up and and so I do believe we need to be mindful of what we're doing in terms of our budgeting. Um you know council member Carter asked about uh LGA local government aid. Um, I would just like to note on fiscal disparities 2025 report, city of Bloomington is the number one net contributor. We are the biggest loser in that program of anybody. And so money from this community that we could be using to help with the our tax base, to help with the stuff we're facing is going to St. Paul and places like that so they can help their stuff. I would also point out that at least in my time on this council, our tax levy has increased less than Edina, Richfield, uh, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Egan. I'll give kudos to Eden Prairie. They've they've been less than us. Shakipe, but this council in my time has managed our budgets well, including the fact that we face some extraordinary challenges that most of them don't do based on the age of our community. Um, I see Chief Seal here. You know, this transformation that he's leading within our fire department to provide better response times and more safety to our community. It's not free. It's just not. And and we're doing that and we're still keeping our levies lower than most of our peer communities right around us in this area. That doesn't mean it's not impacting people. And so, I just want to talk about a couple of things. I've been talking with staff. Staff is great. appreciate all the conversation and stuff on this, but I I would like to see a little bit more on our working capital accounts, particularly for those other funds, not just the general fund in terms of um are those right sized? Are they are we collecting the right amount of money? It looks like we still have the same calculations that we've had in in previous years. Did we learn anything from the study of how we might be able to combine fund accounts? Are there any opportunities there? Again, I've been very clear that I don't know that that's going to save us money or not. I would just like to see if there are any recommendations from that. It's something we've been talking about for a while. Um and particularly as it relates, I mean, one of the things I looked at is the ice garden and we have 200,000 uh in the um ice garden from tax support to the ice garden. But even without that, we're projecting that the ice garden would be atund and some percent of the uh um working capital account. I know there's some concerns because it's just reopening and how's all that going to work? In my mind, that's why we have the working capital account. It has two months of that's the support. We don't have to put extra support in there. The support is already built into that working capital account. I know 200,000 in terms of our budget isn't a lot, but in my experience, if we can find five, 10 things that are hundred, $200,000, we can really start to move it because we're not going to go out there and find some like, oh, dough. Like, there's a $3 million thing here that we're spending on that we don't need to do. We're going to need to find those little things as we go through it. Um, one of the other ones, I brought it up before, I don't know if there's any support for it, but the Normandale [snorts] Abatement District that, you know, The fact that we're acrewing money to fix a Henipin County intersection, it doesn't make a lot of sense in my mind. I totally get safety. That is that is a safe intersection based on the data we were presented. And I agree, but you know, we've had someone mentioned a fatality at Lindstöm. You know, I mean, we've had other places where we're actually trying to work and make solutions, but maybe, you know, not all the way there. So, [snorts] that one is an area. Um, really excited about the uh priority based budgeting. appreciate the work on there. I'd like to see more insights on that. If there's anything else, I mean, we saw a slide early on that had this large number of things that were high cost, not huge impact. Staff did a great job of explaining that some of that was utility stuff that no one else is going to fix a water treatment plant or [laughter] anything like that. It's just not something we can get away from. We got to provide that. We have to do that. And those were huge numbers within that. So, I I I understand that that some of that is there, but I'd love to see more of that because we do have people stressed on on where they're going. Um, some of the things with in terms of employment practices and benefits and things like that that to make sure we're aligned with where people are at within the public and private marketplaces. Uh, so that that we do there uh we do those things as well. I I think those are things we need to look at. Um, and then there was one question someone asked about uh mechanisms of relief. And um, you don't have to answer this now, but I believe that at our truth and taxation meeting, we will talk about all of the opportunities that people have. If you have a high increase, you can apply for a refund from the state. If you're a senior on a fixed income, you have multiple programs that you can go into to get tax property tax relief. Um, these things are all there already existing. And so if you're struggling with that, um you can wait till December 8th or contact the city assessor's office and they can help walk you through all of those different options because they are there. Um and the tax system is dictated by the state. It's very weird. It's very bizarre. Um because there will be people that have a very low thing. Me personally, my property value went up $19,000. My taxes are going up 12%. I feel you. You know, I I feel it. But, you know, I understand that some people are going to be lower, some people are going to be higher. That's the way the system works and I'll take a look at what my options are for relief as well to from the state and see because I think those are important aspects and and I know we'll we'll do those. So, I appreciate this work. I still think we need some more work on the budget overall and I appreciate how much uh staff is working on that because I' I've been reaching out and talking and so thank you. Sorry for the lengthy comments. >> No, thank you, council member. Council member, >> thank you, mayor. Um, I just want to say thank you to the folks that showed up. Um, because I am a glutton for punishment. So, I've been watching the preliminary tax levy meetings of other cities around us, uh, Lakeville, Egan, Edina, Eden Prairie, and at those meetings, no one shows up. no one has conversations because they don't do what we do, which is actually getting this data information out to people. So, I appreciate the people coming out and continue to come out uh because I truly believe Bloomington is the most engaged community uh in the metro. And so, I appreciate the work that staff has done to continue to do that. Uh I don't believe that this number is the final number yet. Uh, I think we have opportunity being a member of the HR. I'm going to continue to push the HR um to reduce their levy and then find opportunities and savings. I know the H specifically for the last two or three years has kept theirs significantly lower. Um, and there's going to be conversations. I know that's coming back again for the H. Um, but I personally will continue to to drive and push to make sure that we're right sizing the budgets for the work that we have to do. Um, to make sure that people in the community continue to stay here. Um, and so I I think we have more work to do and I'm looking forward to seeing what that comes back with. And uh, the the biggest piece for me is just hearing people. Um, I think I've heard from just in the last week five people called me. I probably had 20 emails. Um, not only are seniors being burdened, but families. I heard uh, a comment tonight. People are at home eating dinner, putting their kids to bed. I should be doing that right now. >> I have three kids that are seven, five, and two. And I'm here all the time. They tell me, "Dad, do you have to go to another meeting?" Yep. And it's not just Monday nights. We have staff meetings in the morning. We have staff meetings in the afternoon. I'm on the H. There are council members here and other commissions. The work that we do here is a lot, but it's worth it. It's worth it because we know that this community needs to continue on. And it can only continue on if we're up here doing the work, listening to our residents. So, I'm going to continue to to ask staff to do more work to drive down that levy. Ask staff to continue to do more engagement because we are the only community that's doing that so that we can continue to make sure that when the tax levy comes out, people understand and see exactly where their dollars go. Uh because unlike the federal government, there's no truth in taxation at the federal government. Your dollars just go in a black hole. But here, you can see where it goes. And so, thank you staff for doing that. I'm looking forward to seeing what we have in uh December 8th. >> Others Well, I will say council, I agree with thanks for the conversation and thank you all for for your conversation as well. I think it's it's important to have as council member Mua said and I think it's uh it's always timely and it's always it's always welcome. I do agree a bit I think with council member Revas in terms of uh outreach uh engagement, transparency uh and just the general understanding of what we do. it. Um I mean it it concerns me that somebody thinks the council makes $600,000 in salaries. I think total we don't make $100,000. We don't make $100,000. It concerns me when somebody says the Mall of America isn't contributing anything to this city. I we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars each year uh to bring up the water fund. And first of all, the water fund pays for water treat or water uh infrastructure replacement. That's what it's there for. It's not an income generating fund. It's to pay goes right back into the water fund. And if you recall, we held our water rates flat this year. Our water rate is zero this year. Um and and then this conversation about basic city operations, police, fire, public works, park and recreation, and community development. The five basic tenets of city government make up 85% of the expenditures in this city. 85%. So to say that we're not uh addressing or or uh taking care of our our our basic city services is is just flat out not correct because 85% of our budget including 50% going to public safety. And um so we we we clearly need to do a little better job of uh of letting people know what we do and how the work gets done and um get that information out there because uh some of these misunderstandings or misconceptions I think drives some of the uh some of the discontent we've we've heard tonight and and on other opportunities and other occasions as well. And it uh and I think it just paints an incorrect picture of what we're doing and what we're trying to do here. And uh to your point, Council Member Mua, uh this notion that somehow we just don't care is the most absurd thing I've heard in a long time. That uh the time, the effort, the passion, the energy that we all seven of us put into this every week. And uh for about a dollar an hour, uh I think to say that we don't care is is an insult because clearly we do. If we weren't if we didn't care, we wouldn't be here. And uh we care about our community. We care about the future of our community. We care about the direction of the community. And so we we we obviously need to do a better job telling our story. We really do. Any other comments on this council? Council member Lman. >> Mayor, I just want to thank you and other colleagues for uh you know what you know what you've said. I you know I I appreciate that. Uh um uh want to thank those folks who came here. Uh I know that you came here out of your true feelings and heart for the community. I appreciate the work that you've done to bring that conversation here to this council. Um affordability is always uh critical and an important thing that we need to need to focus on and mayor I think you you encapsulated that well. A few things that I'm confused about and we don't need to answer that today. HA homes don't pay any taxes at all. >> No, >> I'm I'm shocked by that. No property taxes, nothing at all. I'm just I'm I'm shocked by that. So, uh that's something I, you know, would like to hear back about unless you already have that today. >> U mayor, uh council members, council member, I I would have to look into that. I'm not aware of that. >> Yeah, I'm not aware of that either. That that somehow tax-free. Uh that that's a shock to me. Um, uh, you know, I'm impressed with staff deeply. When you talk about a conceptual budget of 17.98% and to get it down to where we're looking at today, that's seven, that's seven, you know, point4, wherever we're at today and where we will end up at the end is an incredible feat. Uh, to be able to to to do that. And uh you know I think [clears throat] mayor uh and for those folks who said that we're not listening, we don't hear what you're saying, I find that amazing. Uh and so you're right. Looks like we got more work to do uh to to get the message out and to to to really drive home what we're doing here. Uh it's amazing to me uh that folks don't know that, but it's clear uh from the conversations and things that people are having at doors. So, I appreciate the fact that uh residents have been willing to come here and tell us that. We appreciate that that you we've got to roll up our sleeves and and dig in and and uh figure that out and figure out how we get that that message out there. Uh it angers me a little bit that we're not getting the message completely and totally out there that we we care about residents. We care about those folks who are struggling with affordability and trying to get by. Um you know, we we've done the mayor. We've had that conversation where we started with the zero% budget. I remember when we did that in fact moo, I believe you were on the committee when we did that. We started with the zero and let me tell you how shocked I was, you know, in terms of how much that was cut that we had to cut back from. Uh we, you know, we had council members up here who were upset with one another because of the things we were trying to cut. Uh those were not easy conversations uh and discussions. And we've come a long ways. Let me tell you, I've been around here for a long time. And so when we talk about this idea of listening and and making it more open, you know, remember uh when uh council member Carter and Council Delisandre said, "Hey, you know, we need to do more to to open this process up and hear more." I like, "Well, I thought we were doing enough, but you know what? There was another level in which that we we took that to and I appreciate that." Now, Council Member Rivas, you're you're coming and you're asking the same question. How do we how do we push this even more? And so I I think we've got a just a all-star team up here uh with staff and with our council that really cares deeply for this community and we've got a long ways to go. Uh and and I totally hear you. Uh you know uh and and some of these things here we've got to clarify here. I got a number of questions that I have. I'm not going to spend all this time today to clarify all those questions. But, uh, I think we're doing a great job and I think that's an amazing thing when you look from 17% down to 7%. I don't know many councils that have been able to do that. Um, I haven't been on any council that been able to do that. So, I I'm I'm excited about the opportunities and our possibilities. Uh, we got priority based budgeting in front of us. Um, and the last thing I'll say, Mayor, is this budget could have been a lot higher. Um, a number of us folks have been helping to invest with the firefighter department. Uh, it could have been $ 1.5 million higher this this but we've been working hard uh to try to diversify what we're doing, listening and making sure that we're watching the market to be able to move these things forward. Each of us in our individual roles have been working hard to figure out a way to drive this budget down. And I I'm looking forward to us continuing to do that as we kind of move forward. And I thank each of my colleagues and staff for that hard work and that dedication even though we haven't seen a raise on this board in decades. Thank you, mayor. >> Thank you, council member. Like I think council, it's it's been said we've got our truth and taxation hearing coming up in early December and our final levy discussion in mid December. And we're going to continue, I know staff will continue to to consider things and look at things and look for ways to bring that down. So, thank you. Thanks for the conversation. We'll wrap up tonight, council, as we do always do with our council policy and issues update. Uh, I will kick off recapping our Bloomington City Council listening session. Earlier this evening, we had one, two, three, four, five, five, six, uh, five speakers, excuse me. We had Teao Savanich speaking about uh the city's possible use of automatic license plate readers, especially those from flock safety. And I was impressed at the amount of information and knowledge that he had on it. Uh he's opposed to it and we are one of the only cities in the Twin Cities that doesn't use flock safety and he would like us to keep it that way. So I was impressed, as I said, with his with his knowledge on the topic. We heard from uh Kit Freriedman and he wanted to discuss the potential for a ban on use of gas powered leaf blowers within the city of Bloomington both from a noise standpoint but also from a an air quality standpoint. So uh we'll we'll see where that can that conversation goes. Uh Sharon Sharf was there and spoke about questions she had regarding the proposed cannabis facility under consideration at 100901 Nesbbit Avenue South. and Matthew Howlet uh was speaking uh came and spoke to us about the redevelopment of Nicollet Avenue and really urged Bloomington to try and copy what they're doing in Richfield on Nicollet Avenue and uh try and copy that in terms of uh uh traffic calming and narrowing and bike lanes and and pedestrian ability and and so on. So, um, as I look at it, I think I think we've heard from Matthew before, but that gives us again three out of our four speakers at our listening session were, uh, were first- time speakers. So, that was good to good to see you and good to to welcome everybody there. [clears throat] Uh the only other uh update that I will provide tonight uh just a quick update on the uh the trade mission that I accompanied the governor and and the big group of uh business people from uh the city or from the state of Minnesota uh education professionals, nonprofits. Uh the trade mission went over to uh Switzerland and Germany and we had some incredible conversations with uh well we started with uh we met with sik the our uh counterparts over in the Black Forest had an opportunity to spend the afternoon there and see their production facility there. had plenty of opportunities to talk, as I said, with higher education and business and uh so many good opportunities in terms of uh innovation centers, in terms of uh different ways to to train the workers, the workforce that we're going to need. Uh and in terms of uh the medtech industry, I know that uh Kim Bergrren was also there and um uh the the focus on the medtech industry in in Germany especially is is very similar to what it is here and to look for opportunities that we can continue to develop our uh our light manufacturing high-tech industry like we have here with with uh Polar and Skywater and and sick and so on. So it was uh it was definitely time well spent. It was uh definitely an eye openener in a lot of ways and hopefully it'll bear fruit for us in the near future. So, >> Mr. Walker, do you have any updates for us this evening? >> I have nothing tonight, Mayor. Thank you. >> Council member Reebos, >> I'd just like to update on the trip I uh took to uh Salt Lake City. It was an amazing uh conference. Uh uh this time it was a lot more learning than in any other that I've been before. Um but first of all I I want to finish a budget discussion with a good uh comment uh what I learned uh through the transportation and infrastructure uh committee federal committee advocacy committee and the e energy um and natural resources um is that there are billions of dollars available to cities that want to use them. I know that we have a great staff that is on top of uh grants all the time but um the one thing that they reiterated was that we need to make a move have plans to spend it because that will go away by mid by summer of 2027. So if there are any, you know, fire department and police department uh wants at this moment, I think, uh it's uh I'm I'm sure that the staff is already on top of it, but there's there are billions of dollars available that they're just sitting there and we need to take advantage of. So uh and then I took a class and I believe the u city manager Walker was in that class too that is called um um two classes actually on it. It's called the dignity index. Uh it was amazing. Amazing. Uh especially because of the political uh situation that we're in. You know, a lot of insults going back and forth with people. It it couldn't have been a better timing. I mean, the the response from the the attendees was amazing. And everybody's talking the next day. I mean, we were even having conversations at tables that probably in the past it could have been possible. So, it was amazing. Um hopefully you know for my part I'm I'm already trying to practice that approach. Uh so uh hopefully that he it spreads out like it should and you know have uh going back to the tables and have that conversation rather than you know the insults and the assumptions about each other. Uh it was very constructive. Uh and all the other classes in regards to um to um u issues you know contemporary issues for lack of better words I guess. Uh it was just an amazing uh thing. Every all the classes were bigger this I mean longer this time two and a half hours per class. So it was a little tiresome but uh but but it was a a big learning experience. So, I'm thankful for the public and the staff and everybody that gets involved and allowing us to go to these things because they're very good for us to to be part of that and participate in whatever they had to teach and learning from fellow council members uh from other cities that are having problems similar to ours and how they deal with them and to to uh those uh listening out there. Uh we have one of the best cities and one of the best systems. We, you know, looks like we disagreeing most of the staff were in a lot of issues, but the professionalism with what we work in this council, it's amazing compared to uh I had the opportunity to vote on the resolutions deal. Oh my god, [laughter] that was a long we started at 2:00 and by 7:00 we we didn't finish the vote, so we had to finish uh get out because uh it was the end of a conference. But it's amazing how how heated the discussions can get. Uh but that said, it was an amazing experience and hopefully um I know I know I will be putting what I learned into into use and I am already trying to do that as we speak today. Uh but thank you again. >> Thanks for that's all I got. >> Thanks for representing Bloomington and the National Youth Cities. Thank you. Is there anything else council? I see nothing else. I would entertain a motion to adjurnn this evening. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by council member Rivas, second by council member Mua to adjourn this evening's meeting. No further council discussion on this. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. 70. Thanks much to everybody who participated this evening. Thank you, council. Thanks to everybody who watched online. Uh everybody have a great rest of your week and a pleasant Thanksgiving weekend as well. Thanks.