Request for preschool funding comes up against concerns about wages | Local news

Roughly 220 children in lower-income families in Bloomington qualify for but do not have access to affordable pre-kindergarten education.

In an effort to change this, Alex Crowley, director of the city’s Economic and Sustainable Development Department, said a state-sponsored initiative, On My Way Pre-K pilot program, which provides funding to programs serving 4-year-olds from families with household incomes at or below 127 percent of the federal poverty level, is coming to Monroe County next year, and it is estimated it can help about 50 children.

That begs the question: What can the city and others do to make sure no children who are eligible for pre-kindergarten are left out?

As part of that answer, the city is proposing investing $100,000 to support quality child care for lower-income families.

“Every dollar initially invested in early education programs for children from low-income families is estimated to generate $4 to $11 in economic benefits over a child’s lifetime,” Mayor John Hamilton said in his remarks to the Bloomington City Council during the first day of budget hearings Monday.

He said children who participate in early education programs have higher rates of finishing high school and college, rely less on public assistance and join the workforce at higher pay.

Crowley said the city has not yet determined how the requested money will be invested in early childhood education, but it will not happen in a vacuum. He said the city plans to work with different parties, including the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County and other groups in the private sector.

Child care vs. wages

City council members at Wednesday’s budget hearing agreed that investment into early childhood education is important, but some questioned whether creating a new line item for it was the best course of action.

Council member Allison Chopra said there are other ways to secure funding for early childhood education efforts, such as grants. She said the city this year allocated roughly $53,000 of Jack Hopkins Service Grant funding to programs helping with early childhood education programs.

Chopra said low wages are one factor limiting families’ access to child care. She said still sees city employees who are not being paid a living wage, and she has been actively looking for places in the budget to cut to allow bring those wages up.

Council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith said she agreed with Chopra that other sources of funding are available, and she suggested decreasing the amount by $50,000.

However, Chopra said she may go further and consider cutting it altogether, as she continues to look for ways to bring seasonal, temporary and part-time employees’ salaries up to a living wage. Chopra said she would continue to work to see if she cannot find space in the budget requests to raise the pay of those employees who are not currently receiving a living wage.

Housing Development

Council members have some concerns about how $1 million in a Housing Development Fund can be spent.

As part of the 2018 budget, the city is requesting authorization to invest up to $1 million from the fund for affordable housing projects in Bloomington. However, some city council members were not sure whether the council will have a chance to review how that money is spent.

“It is not that I don’t trust the administration,” Piedmont-Smith said. “But I think that we should work to collaborate on these projects, and it is important to have the voice of the council in deciding how this money is spent.”

The administration created the Housing Development Fund with city council approval. City Controller Jeff Underwood said there is $1.4 million in the fund. The fund was seeded with about $400,000 from the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County and a $1 million commitment from Illinois-based Regency Consolidated Residential as a condition to the city’s approval of the Dunnhill Apartments project near Indiana University’s Memorial Stadium.

The Housing and Neighborhood Development department is overseeing the spending from this fund. Doris Sims, HAND director, said staff is still in the process of developing guidelines.

Chopra said when the fund was created, she was under the impression that council members would have the opportunity to vote on requests for use of such funds. Chopra said she would like to see changes to this request before final approval. These could include a reduction in the amount. Other council members would like to see even more done.

“I want to see a different approach on the affordable housing fund,” Piedmont-Smith said.

Deputy Mayor Mick Renneisen said he feels some of the council members’ reservations may be alleviated once they get a chance to review the criteria on how the money will be spent on different affordable housing projects.

“The mechanics of it haven’t been figured out yet,” Renneisen said.

Tonight’s hearing

The city council will hear budget requests tonight for planning and transportation, general public works, animal control, fleet maintenance, traffic control and streets, sanitation and facilities. The hearing will be at 6 p.m. in City Hall, 401 N. Morton St. and will be broadcast on CATS public access television.