2026 City Budget

Can we talk about the $4000.00 yearly bump in salary full time "Environmental health" employees receive. This is the staff that send residents letters about property/homes being out of compliance with city ordinence. These staff are also "health inspectors," pool regulation, rental housing checks, hand out temporary license for events.

If positions that have no specialty niche are granted 4K raises every Jan., what kind of hefty, automatic raises do more important positions & roles get? This is concerning now & for future. A handful of Environmental health division staff (17 full time) are making 6 figures (within 5-10 years of starting enployment w Bloomington, non- managerial level positions). At this rate, if this one department is reflective of the City's practices in general, it will never be a realistic expectation for anything but masive increases in fees, taxes, etc.

Bloomington pays significantly higher than what's standard for this specific role mentioned above! What is the justification behind this type of spending & budget? Such significant amounts of tax payer money ought to be subject to approval by a majority.

Does not seem like a well thought out or great strategy.

The school’s are facing more budget reductions. Further reductions will only make the current families consider moving out of the community to a better district, consider private schools and setter new families from moving in. Good schools are core to a thriving community. Please do better.

I am miranda anderson, a seven year resident of bloomington. Part of what drew us to blemington was the closeness to everything else...downtown, the airport, even 494. As the comittees explore budgeting for 2026, I implore you to think about our schools and the boon they are forbdrawing new residentsto our community. Our schools are facing a $5 million a year shortfall because state and federal budgets have not kept pace with inflation. The latest property tax increase I have seen fails to address the needs of our schools, so they are cutting programming and busses to accommodate. As a taxpayer, I would like to make sure my increased taxes go to the schools and childcare in a sizable proportion, when compared to other city services.

9.44% budget increase is just unacceptable, regardless of the process by which the number was determined. Families are holding the line on their own financial budgets by making hard decisions. I would expect the city council and mayor to do the same. This level of spending and mindset is not sustainable.

While I think priority-based budgeting sounds like a good idea, I’m lost on how it will actually reduce the budget ? As this seems like an obvious need when you and Hennepin county keep raising property taxes significantly year after year. I would like some transparency on where the state budget surplus was spent a few years back and if that money led to more businesses hiring people/paying taxes and better outcomes for students. I think Bloomington should provide everyone with mailed property tax changes that include the same info that Hennepin county does; proposed budget by line of business and where the money comes from…..so voters understand who is providing money to the city and who is using it. I would like more respect/ focus on residents and businesses who pay a lot in taxes to city instead of all the focus being on art/ affordable housing/ parties/ equity in your council meetings and social media. I found it quite distasteful that the mayor mentioned an award for creativity/ equity/ community in the last council meeting. I don’t think any of these things are bad but they don’t pay the bills. I support the police and fire department and their funding but perhaps we could put more art installations on hold until this is accomplished. I also don’t believe we have equity in Bloomington when the residents who are retired and on a fixed income are afraid they won’t be able to live here anymore because they can’t afford property taxes, don’t go out to eat at Bloomington restaurants because of sales tax, and now have no senior center that can accommodate their needs until 2027. I personally know 2 long term residents who are moving out of Bloomington because of the increase in property taxes now that they are retired.I think the city council should be worried about further decrease in revenue if this becomes a trend. I grew up here in Bloomington and returned after my husband left the military. I had hoped to stay in my home indefinitely, but it’s not looking like that is going to be a wise financial decision and it’s frustrating that my welfare seems to be of no concern to anyone since I pay a lot of money each year to Bloomington. I am old enough to remember that Bloomington does not need to be taxed this much to be a vibrant, welcoming community with good parks and schools and quality fire and police departments. It just needs people in leadership to make hard decisions to cut the fat out of the budget and focus on what really matters to the majority of the residents.

I’m a Bloomington homeowner, and our city property tax levies have clearly drifted into a zone that is not sustainable for ordinary families.

Since I bought my home in 2021, my total property tax has gone from about $5,247 to a proposed $6,785 for 2026. That is a roughly 30% increase in five years, or more than 5% per year on average. My mortgage is fixed; the only reason my payment keeps jumping is escalating taxes.

For 2026, the City’s own presentation shows a 9.44% increase in the tax levy, which staff say translates into about a 10.87% increase for the median-value home, or $165.81 more per year just for the city portion. Even after staff reductions, you’re still talking about a proposed 7.48% final levy increase at a time when inflation has cooled, and many residents’ wages are not rising anywhere near that pace.

We keep hearing about “reductions” from a conceptual 17.9% levy down to 9.44% and then 7.48%, but that’s just cutting back from unthinkable to merely very high. There is no clear plan to bring annual levy increases back down to something close to real inflation; instead, it feels like 5–10% hikes are being normalized as the new baseline.

From the outside, it looks like the council is unwilling to make truly hard choices on the biggest cost drivers, especially in public safety staffing and major capital commitments, and is relying on homeowners to quietly absorb year after year of above-inflation tax growth. That is not sustainable for young families, seniors on fixed incomes, or anyone trying to budget responsibly.

I’m asking you to do what you keep telling us you’re doing: practice real “priority-based budgeting,” set an explicit target to bring levy increases back in line with inflation over the next few years, and be honest that this will require saying no to some programs and to the current pace of expansion. Until you show a credible path to that, these budgets are not responsible, and I cannot support them.

I have listened to the council meeting on the budget and Still wonder how a city who sends out news emails with out of date information need so MUCH more money than the percentage of the CPI. Bloomington has never been able to live within the budget increases at the same level of the CPI. I can see that the HRA portion of the increase is a very high percent increase. Bloomington talks about the cost of buying a house. It is getting to be the property tax is a very large part of that increasing cost of buying. And for those that have a house for a few years the property tax is greater than the mortgage and insurance and utilities. You are like a Ouroboros.

Stop spending and cut tax. 14% increase. Ridiculous. So much for family friendly. But hey buildings are getting refaced.

Hello!
My name is Jon Schmidt and am a 34 year resident of Bloomington residing at 9866 Dakota Road, 55438

These questions are directed to Kari Carlson.

Kari, please reply to my questions below:

1) What is the amount budgeted for DEI in 2026 and how does it compare to 2025?
2) What is the FTE increases or decreases planned for 2026 (excluding Fire an Police)?
3) Are there any material planned revenue increases or planned expense reductions factored into the 2026 budget?
4) Regarding Community engagement, why did you select Juneteenth and Pride day as there were less than 100 participants? Will you do this next year?
5) The merit increases are set at 3.25%, correct? Whatever the number how does this compare to other local MN city's ? Also, are promotions taken from this pool as well?
6) As evidenced at the State level, there is massive fraud what safeguards exist at the city level?

Bike path along busy routes example American Blvd. old Shakopee Road would be nice to have. Richfield has really good trail system set up along their highways. Also Edina has a good trail system along their highways. Also speeding enforcement on secondary roads ( 86th/12th/Portland) would be wonderful. Sometimes for these so-called E bikes that are motorcycles come down our street at 45 miles an hour. They are not an E bike but tend to ride on shoulder of the road. When I had called to ask for speeding enforcement, traffic enforcement is very is short on officers, if we could get some officers, whose only job is traffic enforcement, that would be a good use of our property tax money. Neighborhood inspections once a year for violations

I have lived in West Bloomington for the past 25 years. When I first moved to the area taxes were reasonable and the area I lived in had numerous shops, restaurants and businesses, however the majority of these have closed or moved out of Bloomington. Revitalization has occurred in other parts of Bloomington, but not this portion. Large amounts of money were spent on revitalizing Normandale Lake and creating bike lanes yet the lake is in worse condition (low water levels, stagnant water and increased algae) and bike lanes are hardly used. Sidewalks were replaced along Normandale Blvd north of Normandale Lake but not beyond 98th St. I am paying approximately $300 more per month in taxes than when I first bought my home 13 years ago. I have a good career with a good salary yet feel I have less disposable income now than ever. Every year Bloomington taxes and levy’s continue to climb yet wages and COLA’s don’t come close to covering the increase. This creates a hardship for home owners - especially for people on a fixed income. Taxes and levies cannot continue climbing at the current pace or homeowners will be forced to leave their homes. Homeowners are the heart of Bloomington and take pride of our city and community. The city needs to think outside the box for alternative funding sources - ones that won’t adversely impact it’s homeowners. Thank you
options than continuing to raise taxes and levies

I am a big fan of native plants and prairie restoration (example: The restored prairie off James Ave South and W 92nd Street). Putting effort into turning unused grassy spots into smalls fields of native plants can save on mowing, insecticides, and help declining populations of bumblebees, monarchs, and other important insects that we need to survive.

I will also never say no to more robust bike infrastructure!

Stop spending money, we can't afford your budgets!

I believe Bloomington needs to tighten their purse strings like the residents of Bloomington have to do. Let's stop the "wants" spending. Put unnecessary spending to a halt.

How many years do we have to stomach a 9% increase in property taxes. There is still so much wasteful spending in Bloomington. I own 2 homes. My taxes in Cape Coral Florida have DECREASED by 5% the last two years. It’s absolutely disgusting.

I don't think the city should even be contemplating spending many millions to put in a dedicated bus lane on American Boulevard, or contemplating reducing NON-BUS traffic lanes to ONE in each direction. All this will do is push more traffic into residential neighborhoods as traffic on American Boulevard gets backed up due to just ONE lane of traffic for them. On top of that, American Boulevard was constructed only about 20 years ago,.The road surface is in very good condition. Finally, there aren't enough buses along American Blvd to justify a dedicated bus lane, and there never will be enough bus riders to justify it. East of 12th (most buses), there is max 12-13 buses per hour. West of Lyndale, there is max of 7 buses per hour in the stretch from Lyndale to Penn; and a max of 3 buses per hour in the stretch west of Penn. From Portland to Penn, there is a max of 8-9 buses an hour. That the city is even contemplating a dedicated bus line along American Blvd is quite frankly, an example of all that is WRONG in the city. The city council and various advisory committees have little respect for taxpayers if their plans including spending millions to reconstruct a road that is in perfectly good shape, and creating a dedicated bus line which will have at most 13 buses per hour traveling on the eastern most stretch of it - that is a max of ONE BUS every 4.5 MINUTES. Reconstructing a perfectly good concrete road is also BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.

Bloomington City Council needs to be much more cautious about spending taxpayer money, and stop increasing the property tax levy and stop increasing/imposing fees in other ways such as the franchise fee. With shifting the fire department from a volunteer to a paid department, this will start to cost taxpayers a lot more money. Over the last few years, grants have paid for some of those costs, but those grants are not guaranteed into the future. Fire department employees will have to be paid, regardless of whether grants are available, and taxpayers will be on the hook for that. These salaries are obligatory if residents want a fire department (now that the volunteer model is no longer with us), and will undoubtedly cause the city to further raise the property tax levy.

With this in mind, the city council and mayor needs to be taking steps to cut unnecessary expenses at the city, NOT spending millions on reconstructing a perfectly fine 20 year old road. The promoters say this will lead people to take the bus more, but quite frankly, it won't to any significant degree. Few people go ONLY from point A to point B without stops in between, without taking their kids with them, without needing to haul things like groceries. If you have to do just ONE of those things, taking the bus simply becomes a huge exhausting hassle, compared to driving a car (and, you can consolidate trips to cut down on miles driven and improve your carbon footprint - the city should be promoting trip consolidation). It becomes even more of a hassle in the winter or during hot humid days.

The city council acts like a kid in a candy shop, spending money unnecessarily (and in the case of American Boulevard, wastefully), and in ways that don't benefit the city as a whole. That needs to stop.

I am grateful for the robust community services. However, I would urge the counsel to please be extremely mindful to reduce non-essential spending as the property tax increases we have recently experienced are unsustainable. I know the city is under financial pressures, but so are the residents. Please do not assume that we can continue to pay more and more each year

Bloomington briefing announcing this feedback process was received today 9/9 one day after the levy was set on 9/8. That tells me feedback isn’t valued. Nevertheless, I agree with the comments that when tax base is tightening so does the belt need tightening on city expenses, and elective interest programs need to be scrutinized.

When funding sources are shrinking or disappearing our budget needs to reflect that. It appears there has been an attempt to do that but there is still a significant increase of over 9%, some of which can't be avoided. However, that can also happen when the city supports "interests" that are not a benefit to the whole community and that area then continues to expect funding in the future. Special interests (other than ADA, required) might need to come up with their own creative funding. If it does not benefit the entire population don't put it in the budget, keep to strict city function support and development. I know there are positives about many interests but when funds are tight draw the line.

I would like the city to set money aside for a full time Accessibility staff person. Having an ADA coordinator is fantastic and very very needed, but I think having someone whose job it is to consult with city departments about their projects and events as well as work to build lasting relationships with disabled residents can help create a more inclusive city and bridge gaps where they may be occurring (especially with agencies running group homes in the city). This position would greatly improve quality of life for seniors as well!

It's important that the city keep investing in ADA transition plans for right of way, parks, and buildings. The work being done ot make every park at the very least accessible is so important and it should continue.