Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton’s proposed 2024 city budget is closer to getting approval from the city council.
Council members gave preliminary approval for parts of the budget package Wednesday following initial budget hearings in August.
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Both police and fire personnel will receive salary increases depending on their rank next year. For police, Hamilton said the city also will offer an additional $5,000 for new probationary officers.
“These public safety investments, along with the new public safety headquarters underway in Showers West, will accelerate and deepen the ongoing progressive evolution of Bloomington public safety services, which are in my opinion, the best in the state," Hamilton said.
But local police union president Paul Post said that won’t do enough for the department, which is experiencing a staffing shortage.
“While a possible positive for recruiting brand new untrained officers it does not help us in retention," Post said. "What we'd like to see is further action regarding affecting retention of your existing officers, aggressively recruiting already certified lateral hires.”
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Senior police officers, officers first class and police supervisors are set to receive a 2.8 percent increase next year, while other police personnel will receive a 5 percent increase.
Post said the union wants 5 percent increases for all officers across the board.
The council’s Wednesday votes were non-binding and only serve as a recommendation for when it meets on Oct. 11 for a final vote on the budget.
