2026 City Budget
Consultation has concluded. The 2026 City Budget was adopted on December 15, 2025.
Bloomington's 2026 Budget and our Path Forward - Prioritizing what Matters Most
Each year the City Council approves a budget to fund City services such as Public Safety, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation. Similar to other organizations, the City of Bloomington is facing budget challenges. Pressures on the budget include expiring funding sources, rising costs of goods and services, and aging infrastructure and facilities.
Shifting to Priority-Based Budgeting
To navigate these pressures, Bloomington is implementing Priority-Based Budgeting—a government finance best practice to help us:
- Evaluate all City programs based on community needs and the value they provide.
- Align resources with the Bloomington. Tomorrow. Together. strategic plan priorities.
- Increase transparency and accountability.
- Make data-driven strategic decisions.
What you need to know
- We’re committed to understanding the impacts on the community of these budget decisions.
- We’ll use resident feedback, data and new tools to make strategic, sustainable decisions.
- Final decisions rest with the City Council, with guidance from City staff and the new budgeting model.
Visit blm.mn/budget for more information including links to the budget discussions with City Council, presentation materials, and historical and current budget documents. The page will be updated continuously through the budget cycle.
Who's Listening
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Deputy Finance Officer
Phone 952-563-8725 Email kcarlson@BloomingtonMN.gov
I don't think the city should be funding the Hatch Bloomington $100,000 prize or covering the administrative costs of this program. Taxpayer money should not be used to give ONE business any of the $100,000 prize money. I haven't seen any evidence that the return on this investment to the city, from the winning business, justifies this expenditure of taxpayer dollars.
As I understand it, Bloomington funds a large majority of the prize money, I believe over 80% of the $100,000 (I believe some small amount comes from the Port of Bloomington, but that's still a government org of Bloomington). As an aside, Bloomington needs to be MORE transparent of how this prize is funded - I've looked and found it difficult to find clear, precise information online, but I'm certain Bloomington is funding the majority of the prize. (Suggestion: Place this information on the Hatch Bloomington page, clearly and transparently.) There's also a not insignificant administrative cost to this program, and as I understand it, Bloomington pays all those costs.
This expenditure is one of the first that should be on the chopping block as Bloomington looks for ways to reduce expenditures. It's a risky investment (many new businesses fail) and unlikely that overall, Bloomington will recoup the costs through revenues Bloomington receives from the winning business. In fact, the winning business, if it succeeds over time, likely would have succeeded without the prize money. One suggestion: the money could be redirected to cover some of the costs for snowplowing of sidewalks.
If private money can be secured to fund the prize, that's fine.
Make cycling and pedestrian friendly routes to school/work/shopping/recreation a priority! We are facing an environmental crisis and having alt transportation options in place now will help.
I agree with the person who stated that expanding bike (and pedestrian and transit) infrastructure should be a priority in the 2026 budget. This closely aligns with Bloomington’s strategic plan goal of cultivating an enduring, remarkable community where people want to be, as well as comprehensive plan Transportation strategies 1.6, 3.1, and 4.2. This should be done not only through regular PMP projects, but also by boosting capital bikeway projects like the I-35W and Xerxes bikeways, and increasing local match for projects like Nicollet, Portland, and 494 to enhance bike infrastructure on those projects as well.
I would like the city to expand the public works budget so they can add more biking infrastructure into Bloomington's cycling network. The city currently adds biking infrastructure through reconstruction efforts like the PMP Program, but I think we can be more ambitious, and really take advantage of our construction season, and make this a city where residents can walk, bike, and use public transit just as much as they can use personal vehicles.