New vehicles in budget proposals for city police, fire, transit

Aug. 21--The Bloomington City Council held its second evening of 2020 budget hearings Tuesday, reviewing proposed funding for the police and fire departments, as well as Bloomington Transit.

PoliceThe Bloomington Police Department's $13,140,264 budget request is a nearly 5% increase over last year's budget. Two new patrol officers will bring the city's total to 105 in 2020, though, not all members of council feel that is enough. Council member Dave Rollo said the national average suggests Bloomington ought to have 144 officers, given its population.

Chief Mike Diekhoff said it has gotten harder to attract and retain traditional officers, but last year's introduction of neighborhood resource specialists and a social worker in the police department has allowed for calls to be answered in nontraditional ways.

"People don't want to be police officers anymore," Diekhoff said. "There's a lot of scrutiny."

Diekhoff's proposed budget expenditures include: $15,000 for a new canine unit; $60,000 to replace mobile radios; $50,000 for motorcycles to enhance traffic enforcement; $75,000 for a virtual reality training system; $23,400 for new and replacement officer equipment; $5,100 for renting night vision equipment; a $74,887 payment on the dispatch center to be paid to Monroe County; $5,000 for AED replacement; and more.

Fire

The Bloomington Fire Department's $13,253,912 budget is an 11% increase over last year's, and it's largely made up of capital purchases. The largest expenditures include: a $1.15 million ladder truck; $560,000 to replace Engine 1; $90,000 for fire gear, fulfilling a commitment to having two sets of gear for each firefighter; $90,000 to replace two administrator vehicles; and $200,000 for facility improvements.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Fire Chief Jason Moore said, noting that the department is starting to flesh out a multi-year facility improvement plan. "Future budgets will increase our requests for that."

Moore said there are plans for new stations in the southeast and southwest quadrants of the city, but the uncertainty surrounding the county fire territories' potential consolidation and the ongoing annexation lawsuit leave things too uncertain to set any dates.

While capital improvements in the coming year may add up to a considerable sum, past capital purchases and new personnel have helped set the stage for those improvements. Moore said last year's new vehicle purchases and the department's new logistics officer have helped reduce supply costs by nearly $230,000.

Bloomington Transit

Bloomington Transit's proposed $13,975,250 budget is more than 33% larger than last year's, driven mostly by the $4 million capital investment in four new alternatively fueled buses. Total ridership has been in decline over the past four years, but in 2018, the buses carried 3 million riders.

"That's part of a national trend where most urban areas are experiencing declines," General Manager Lew May said. "Bloomington Transit continues to be the leader statewide in ridership per capita."

In 2020, Bloomington Transit hopes to decide between battery electric and natural gas buses for its alternatively fueled fleet. Once that's complete, the corporation will begin building the appropriate fueling infrastructure for its four new alternatively fueled buses. Those buses are expected to cost a total of $4 million.

Other major expenditures in 2020 will include a $200,000 automatic passenger counting technology; a new $87,360 per year security position at the downtown transit center, potentially filled by an off-duty Bloomington police officer; and a $363,250 roof replacement project at the Grimes Lane operations and maintenance facility.

Bloomington Transit is also looking at a route redesign next year that will create new bus lines serving the future IU Health Regional Academic Center, as well as Cook Medical and Ivy Tech on the west side.

The City of Bloomington Utilities Department budget review occurred after The Herald-Times deadline.

Contact Kurt Christian at 812-331-4350 or kchristian@heraldt.com.

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