- Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annaliese Poorman. The Monroe County Council met on October 14th
- to finalize and adopt the county's 2026 budget after months of hearings. The final budget sits
- at approximately $131 million and includes a 3% cost of living raise for county employees and elected
- officials. Council members noted that at the end of the budget process, the county avoided layoffs across
- all departments.
- County Auditor Breon Gregory told counselors the county's 2026 budget no longer shows a deficit after
- months of work to close an eight million dollar shortfall.
- in the budget documents have been adjusted to account for changes made at the most recent meeting and
- anticipated bond revenue. Please note that some of the budgeted expenses for 26 were moved to 25, resulting
- in an inflated 2025 budget and deflated 2026 budget. As a result of the changes, our 2026 budget no
- longer reflects a deficit. Despite not having a deficit budget in 2026, we recommend that cash reserves
- are closely monitored as additional appropriations are requested.
- in 2026 and beyond. Looking specifically at the levy fund deficits, we have a much smaller surplus of
- $401,240. The cash balances must be closely monitored in these funds specifically moving forward. So
- just to give you the simple calculation numbers, we have now a surplus, a simplified 2026 surplus amount
- of $2,364,060.
- I want to applaud you for your work on this. It's very exciting that we've gotten to this point.
- Thank you. Thank you. County Councilor Marty Hawk warned that the county should remain fiscally responsible
- despite the expected surplus. She said that just because there will be a surplus does not mean the county
- is, quote, sitting here with lots of cash, end quote. Could you go back and say we have a surplus of
- what? How much? $2,364,060.
- And is that just in the frozen levy? No, that's the simple calculation, which includes everything. Now,
- the number I gave you for the for the levy, and that's not just the frozen levy, it's all of the levy
- funds is four hundred and one thousand two hundred and forty dollars. But I think that that sometimes
- could give the wrong impression because, you know, you might have a CUME fund that has a higher
- balance to carry forward, surplus. That's not unusual to see that. So we wouldn't want to give the wrong
- impression that we're sitting here with lots of cash because we can't move those dollars around. So
- it's just a thought.
- Later in the meeting, Councilmember David Henry said that the path to finalize the budget was a difficult
- one, but he appreciated the county's efforts to avoid layoffs while balancing the budget. However, he
- also expressed that the county needs to stay careful with spending over the next year.
- I mean, in a time of downturn, our workforce still has jobs on January 1st. We are not riffing people
- as we've seen in other county governments. We've been able to provide our benefits still under this
- budget. We've been able to get to a place where as long as we protect what we've done here through hiring
- freezes and scrutinizing over time and thinking through our PAC process, we'll maintain that.
- budget moving through. But what's at risk for us moving forward is the death by a thousand cuts and
- the requests that come once we've tried to hold the line and what potentially waits for us next October.
- And my fear about next October is real. I brought that up during the process and I had some ideas about
- how to do that now. And it really comes from a place of being, I still think, the only person up here
- that has been a county employee. And so when I look at county employees and talk to them as one that
- used to be one 18 years ago,
- And had a department head that told me my job was only as good as my grants and actually helped me find
- my next job while I was working for him. And that our benefits back then were not as great as they are
- now. And maybe to get a little too personal to be accounting employee with a master's degree in one
- hand and taking my check to a payday lender and the other to make rent.
- I am acutely aware of how some of our county employees feel and are trying to survive in our economy
- here. I think we did a good job maintaining and holding that line here, but I am incredibly fearful
- about what next year brings if we don't hold to being very careful with our dollars to understand that
- as the circuit breakers kick in on the taxes that we will collect next year that might actually eat
- into the MLGQ that we expect, and that it's going to get harder and harder to hold the line here in
- our county government
- to fund these services. But the good news is we still have the programs. Potholes are still going to
- get filled. The doors will still be open. That's a lot to be proud of in this budget. County Councilmember
- Pete Iverson praised the collaborative nature of the budget process, saying the final budget reflects
- the county's values. I am going to be supporting this budget because it benefits residents of Monroe County,
- and are over 750 county employees. Now, while some have described to this year's processes lacking control,
- I respectfully disagree. What we've seen here is not incompetence, but humility, collaboration, honest
- acknowledgement of our failures, and strident efforts to adapt. We move forward not with misplaced certainty,
- but with curiosity and care,
- determined to fulfill the trust residents have placed in us. And as a public servant, I say with humility
- that this budget is not perfect. We asked our department heads to do much more with much fewer resources.
- Then in addition, we made significant cuts that were painful. And our actions slowed the growth of the
- budget from the previous year from 10% to 5%
- And that's a lot of change to process in just one year. But these tough choices didn't happen in a vacuum.
- They were necessitated by circumstances largely beyond our control. And I think it bears to understand
- this budget. We have to first understand the extraordinary challenges we faced in getting to tonight's vote.
- County Council Member Trent Deckard called the budget process the hardest he's ever experienced. However,
- he praised all parties involved, stating that the budget keeps county jobs and services intact. Council
- President Jennifer Crossley echoed his sentiments and said that the budget lays the foundation for the
- county's financial future.
- This is the groundwork for what we need to do for the next couple of years. So I think what we have
- done in terms of our foundation of having those hard conversations, pushing back on departments,
- maybe so, maybe we can push back a little bit more on some folks, but this is where we are.
- But this is, again, as we talked about in our last week's special session, that this is what we have
- to look forward to for 26 and beyond. The county council passed the budget by
- vote of six to one and we'll meet again on October 28th. The Monroe County Women's Commission met on
- October 15th. The meeting began with Commission member Julie Harris-D, updating the Commission on Healthcare
- Services for Women in Monroe County. Harris-D outlined the current laws that are directly impacting
- women's access to healthcare in Indiana, including reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care.
- This is like a giant topic for Indiana and for Monroe County. And it's also already pretty difficult
- to come up with anything close to accurate statistics about what's happening. So understanding any statistics
- around this topic of reproductive health care in Monroe County has to start with knowing about the laws
- in Indiana, because reproductive health care is limited and severely regulated for women and marginalized
- genders in our state.
- This includes statewide regulations such as the abortion ban that's been in effect in Indiana since
- 2023 and bans on gender transition procedures, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors,
- children under 18 in Indiana since 2024. So none of this changes the fact that pregnant people still
- need abortions or children under 18 still need gender affirming care, but it does significantly impact
- reproductive health care for all women in marginalized
- in the state, including Monroe County. Heresty also shared information from the Commonwealth Fund, which
- ranked Indiana number 29 out of 50 for women's health and reproductive care and found their performance
- rated, quote, worse than average, end quote. Heresty noted that the ranking was sourced from 2022 and
- 2024 and before the state abortion ban took effect. Heresty went on to describe the different women's
- health resources currently
- available locally including the Monroe County Public Library and the store gather. The Monroe County
- Public Library currently does offer reproductive rights libguide sort of information that is sharing
- sharing other options that are available in addition to that we also in Bloomington have all options
- pregnancy resource center
- community birth center. Those are those are places that are also offering pregnancy and maternity care,
- reproductive health care. And then there's the we've we've talked about this at previous meetings that
- the gather store on the square has a free contraceptives vending machine through a program from the
- Indiana task force. And it was HAP that also helped put that
- in place. So you can use that vending machine. You can also shop and gather and make a donation to stock
- the vending machine. So that is something else that is out there. So those aren't really statistics,
- but it felt like that was a good place to kind of go with this for what is available.
- Heresty went on to describe the family leave policies in place for the City of Bloomington as well as
- local school districts. For the City, employees receive up to six weeks of paid maternal leave. MCCSE
- employees currently get eight weeks paid leave, while RBBSC employees receive five. Both school corporations
- offer unpaid leave for up to a year. Heresty suggested that perhaps the Women's Commission could relay
- information to the
- commissioners and suggest amendments to their policies.
- county commissioners regarding information that Monroe County government is providing on its website,
- in addition to potential policy inequities that should be considered between school corporations and
- Monroe County government employees, otherwise, so.
- Next, commission member Maria Douglas relayed information on an upcoming American Civil Liberties Union
- Town Hall, happening on October 23rd at 6 p.m. at the Downtown Monroe County Public Library Auditorium.
- Stunningly stunning information. And I'm curious about, you know, it would be fantastic if the Women's
- Commission could be an advocate
- you know, an advocacy organization, you know, having that be part. Because, I mean, we could go to the
- school board, we could, you know, schedule meetings, you know, with the superintendent, with the school
- board, with the school board president, you know, things like that. This is a definitely like issue
- cut. It's an issue cut, you know, and so a winnable, it's definitely a winnable thing, situation. And so,
- I'm curious about how, but I assume that we would have to get permission from the commissioners to take
- on this work. So I don't know what that entails. Douglas also asked that citizens who receive a letter
- from County Clerk Nicole Brown asking for proof of citizenship in order to register to vote should contact
- her at maria at hoosierap.org.
- My organization Hoosier Asian American Power can help navigate that process to ensure that you're registered.
- We are also very interested in supporting individuals who may be affected by House Enrolled Act 1264, which has
- I'll say it spawned these letters. Finally, Douglas relayed information about the Monroe County Childhood
- Conditions Summit coming up at the Convention Center. The seminar will take place on November 13th from
- 8 to 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The Monroe County Women's Commission will meet again
- on November 20th.
- The Bloomington Commission on Sustainability met on October 14th. Commission member Alex York spoke
- about working with a class from Indiana University to explore the feasibility of a sustainable energy
- utility for Bloomington. I talked about this with some people. It was suggested to me that an O'Neill
- Capstone course would be a good way to kind of explore the feasibility of the Bloomington community
- undertaking a similar action.
- I reached out to professors I knew from O'Neill because I have two masters from there and a capstone
- course has been formed and there's a memo kind of describing all of this. There's a description of the
- classwork attached as well. And yeah, we are looking for the commission's blessing to undergo this work
- where a capstone course is just looking at
- You know, from a wide variety of angles, how practical it is for women to do this. We're also very open
- to feedback on angles of research. We have a bunch of research questions that we came up with. York
- went on to highlight that this class would not cost any money for the city and would serve as a source
- of free consulting. The commission voted in favor of the project unanimously.
- Next, Chairman Justin Vassel brought up the first reading of a resolution to add the word resilience
- to the meeting name Commission on Sustainability. Commissioner and author of the resolution, Jamie Scholl,
- clarified the reasoning behind the proposed name change.
- sending this out and seeing our political climate and being aware of what is being said and how that's
- affecting many of us, if not all of us, some of us in stronger ways than the other, that adding the
- word resilience when, you know, it's becoming so politicized. If I'm seeing Joel Salaton talking about
- more about resilience, and that's leaning one way,
- compared to sustainability, which is leaning another in what we are experiencing now to add resilience,
- even though it's a part of sustainability, I think will be help us to remain relevant in this group,
- this commission remain relevant in no matter in how things may change in the future.
- and we're in quite volatile times, and I just think this is a good move. I know Dave has, he's a founder,
- so I wanted him as part of this as well. The Commission on Sustainability will meet again on November
- 11th. The Monroe County Public Library Board of Trustees met on Wednesday, October 15th. The meeting
- began with Library Director Greer Carson discussing the director's monthly report.
- but the largest and longest standing book vendor for libraries, Baker and Taylor, is Closing Shop. We've
- been kind of following this for better half of this year. It has a huge impact on us in terms of it
- being our primary vendor for selecting print materials. We've anticipated something like this for a
- while as have all other public libraries we're aware of.
- We shifted our ordering plans a while back because of the Baker and Taylor buyout situation when the
- buyout fell through last month we were already in a situation with Ingram who is a competitor Baker
- and Taylor's and of course we use Amazon for all kinds of
- one-off purchases. So we've already been adjusting our selecting and our ordering process. But Baker
- and Taylor going down is a big moment in the world of public libraries. So it's worth acknowledging
- that just to honor the history of that company. Also for MCPL, it has caused a few hiccups for us in
- terms of acquisition rates, the impact on collection development workflows. And as the report indicates,
- we've taken this opportunity, this brief lull
- in acquisition to focus on some other cataloging and maintenance projects. And we'll continue to do
- that until the orders start to come in. We do expect to get all of our back ordered items, if not by
- the end of the year, certainly next year if we switch them over to Ingram. So that's kind of what's
- been going on with Baker and Taylor. And farewell to the company that began and
- 1818, I think, so. Carson then took a moment to give Cats a shout out in the meeting for all the recent
- work that they've done. Hats off to Cats. In September, they did a tremendous amount of work covering
- 54 government meetings, 21 new local events, and Lotus on top of everything. So very impressive. Thank
- you all and Cats.
- Next, the board approved the resolution to adopt the 2026 library budget. Director of Finance,
- Gary Letellier, spoke on the resolution. Be it resolved by the MCPL Board of Trustees that the expenses
- of Monroe County Public Library for the year ending December 31, 2026, the sums herein specified are hereby
- appropriated and ordered set apart out of the several funds here in named and for the purposes here
- in specified, subject to the laws governing the same. Such sums here in appropriated shall be held to
- include all expenditures authorized to be made
- during the year unless otherwise expressly stipulated and provided for by law. In addition, for the
- purposes of raising revenue to meet the necessary expenses of Monroe County Public Library, the property
- tax levies and property tax rates are herein specified, are included herein.
- Form 4B for all funds must be completed and submitted in the manner prescribed by the Department of
- Local Government Finance. This resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage
- and approval by the MCPL Board of Trustees. The MCPL Board of Trustees will meet again on November 19th.
- The Monroe County Capital Improvement Board met on October 15th. The project manager for Weddle Brothers,
- Andrew Sherry, started off with an update on the construction at the Convention Center site. Sherry
- said crews have completed ground improvements and that foundation work is still in progress. Upcoming
- activities again, structural steel, so material will start arriving near the end of October. In November,
- we will start seeing structural steel being set.
- On this picture on the left side of the picture, that'd be the east side of the project. That's where
- we're going to start a sequence one, kind of wrap the register lot area, and then work our way out to
- the west. Underground detention system. So again, the stormwater, we're going to start getting semi
- loads of five foot pipe tomorrow. That work we're hoping to start on Monday, Tuesday. So a lot of excavations
- taking place down there.
- And then again, our underground rough in with mechanical, electrical and plumbing. We've had a lot of
- coordination to see what we can set, what our cranes will reach, what protection we need for that, and
- then how we can start to come into these winter months and start pouring side on grade and really start
- to button things up. So.
- The CIB then heard an update on the proposed convention center hotel from the Bloomington Director of
- Economic and Sustainable Development, Jane Coopersmith. She said negotiations with hotel developer Dora
- Hospitality are still ongoing. As you all know, the CIB selected a hotel developer about this time last
- year and the city is engaged in
- via the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission in those negotiations. And the adults are still talking
- is how I would summarize it. The lawyers are negotiating terms. I'll be meeting with Mr. Dora on Friday
- to discuss some potential details of the project, but we remain committed to moving through negotiations
- as does the Dora and Lauterbeck team. So nothing major to report at this time. Okay. Thank you.
- Thank you, Jane.
- CIB President John Weickart asked for a 60-day timeline to hash out basic negotiations with Dora Hospitality,
- such as design and construction phases. What I am asking now, and I'm going to ask the Board to endorse,
- is that we notify the City of Bloomington and the RDC and Dora, the hotel developer, of our requirement
- that the CIB receive a formal joint agreement
- upon report from the city and Dora with a path forward including timelines for design and construction
- phases and a time schedule for development of the hotel and that we received that report from them by
- no later than our December 17th regular meeting. So basically a 60-day timeline for us to receive much
- more specific information and to signal to us
- that we are actually moving forward and that we can expect forward movement and we can expect design
- and construction to actually take place. If the two parties are not prepared to make this report by
- the December CIB regular meeting, the CIB will consider the options available to it to fulfill
- its responsibility to select a host hotel, including reissuing the RFP for a hotel developer. And I
- will simply add to that that
- both the county ordinance that created this body and the interlocal agreement between the four governmental
- parties working together with us to move this project forward. The CIB has the responsibility to select
- a hotelier for this project and to move forward successfully to having a host hotel. And we need this
- information in order to fulfill that responsibility.
- The CIB passed the 60-day deadline by a unanimous vote. The next meeting of the Monroe County Capital
- Improvement Board will take place on November 19th. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining
- us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman.