Bloomington, Normal and McLean County agree to 12‑month pause, audit of shared sales‑tax fund

Bloomington City Council on Monday voted to approve a 12‑month pause in the city’s monthly payments to McLean County under the shared sales‑tax intergovernmental agreement and to require a third‑party audit of the county’s mental‑health/public‑safety fund.

City Manager Jurgens told the council the pause would let the city “direct how that money should be spent” for roughly one year while the county maintains operations from a roughly $20,000,000 fund balance. He said the pause carries “no risk to the county” because the county may provide notice and ask the city to resume payments earlier than 12 months if needed.

The pause is contained in amendment number 1 to the revenue‑sharing IGA and passed after Council Member Ward successfully proposed additional language that requires the city, during the suspension, to use the paused revenues “exclusively for community behavioral health initiatives, services, and programs consistent with the McLean County Mental Health Action Plan 2022 update, and any updates.” The council also…