Page last updated on February 21, 2023 at 4:01 pm
Each week, Mayor Hamilton, Deputy Mayor Carmichael, and other city employees provide video updates on recent news and key initiatives. Access all of the weekly video updates at bloomington.in.gov/videoupdates.
Join Mayor John Hamilton and Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael as they discuss the recent Public Safety Report and the new $100,000 down payment housing program for sworn police and fire.
At the 7th Annual Public Safety Report meeting, Mayor John Hamilton announced a new $100,000 no-interest down payment assistance program for up to 10 police officers and 10 firefighters as an incentive to live in the city of Bloomington. Commencing immediately, the pilot housing program is the only known program in the country. After 10 years, participants will realize $100,000 in home equity.
Attracting and retaining top firefighters and sworn police officers is a concern nationwide. Enabling police officers and firefighters to live where they work allows for better community connections and reduces crucial travel time in the event of an emergency situation.
The housing incentive is part of a larger local effort to attract and retain vital public safety providers. Additional incentives were announced in 2022 (https://bton.in/~28-s), including signing bonuses, rental/down payment assistance, and take-home patrol vehicles for police; and rental/down payment assistance for firefighters (https://bton.in/aG3KI).
The full Public Safety Report is available online at: bloomington.in.gov/public-safety/annual-reports
Transcript
John Hamilton:
Hi, I'm Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
And I'm Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael. Mayor, recently we hosted the seventh annual Public Safety Report to the community. That's a pretty cool thing. We made a big announcement at that event, but we also covered some of the highlights of 2022. So why don't we start there, and then we'll build to the climax of the big announcement.
John Hamilton:
Well, you're right, we do this every year now. I think it's really important to tell the community the public safety stats, if you will. Sometimes the media and the daily information overwhelms us with that. But the basic information, which we shared from the police, the fire, and the Community and Family Resources Department was number one. We continued to see a general decline in criminal activity, 1%. However, we also continued to see a rise in gun violence in particular. So we talked about a bunch of things we're doing on that, and people can get more information.
The fire department saw a 6% increase in call volume, maybe coming out of the pandemic a little bit more activity and such. And they're continuing to add resources like now health workers and others. And then Community and Family Resources, one of the things they reported was a new grant program. We now have two substantial grant programs that help neighborhoods and downtown folks improve the overall public safety climate. So that was the annual report. There's tons of data online, or you can watch the whole video if you want.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
Right. And one consistency between police and fire was a challenge to attract and retain great personnel. So to that end.
John Hamilton:
That's the big announcement.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
That's the big announcement. So how are we going to do that?
John Hamilton:
Yeah.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
How are we going to do a better job of that?
John Hamilton:
At that event, we said after going through all that, the biggest challenge, as you said, is our people.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
Right.
John Hamilton:
Keeping them, hiring, finding them, and that's a challenge in almost every city in America.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
Yes.
John Hamilton:
So we announced a, I think, exciting, and I don't know of any place in the country that's doing this to say we want to help our first responders, police, and fire live in the city.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
Right.
John Hamilton:
That's a big deal. There's a lot of aspects to that. But they're wonderful people. They're great for our communities and our neighborhoods. But it's hard for a lot of them to live in the city.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
Right.
John Hamilton:
It's expensive.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
Right.
John Hamilton:
Very few do right now. So we announced a program where we're going to offer a $100,000 no-interest down payment loan to a pilot program of 20, 10 each, police and fire, to help them buy a house in the city.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
Right.
John Hamilton:
So if it's a $300,000 house, it'll effectively become a $200,000 house.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
Suddenly, you can afford the house you want to live in Bloomington.
John Hamilton:
And your family can be here; your kids can go to school. You can enjoy the quality of life of the community, and you're integrated, and you're there when we need you. So we're going to try that. What we're also going to do is every year for 10 years, we'll pay down that loan of $100,000.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
Right.
John Hamilton:
So at the end of that 10 years, you stay employed as a police or firefighter, you have a $300,000 house with a $200,000 loan that you pay on and $100,000 of equity built up in that house. And the house, we hope will appreciate your own equity.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
In addition to your own equity. So you could be in very good shape at that point.
John Hamilton:
So we know it's a challenge to hire and retain. We're trying this out. I think it's a win-win if it works, we'll see. The details are coming out now. We appreciate the collaboration of our local financial sector, which will make this possible. The more our police and firefighters can live in the city, be part of our community, be part of our neighborhoods, the better. I often say when I swear these folks in, which is one of my favorite things, is, "The more our community knows about you, the better." We're proud of them and what they do.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
And the more they know about the community.
John Hamilton:
And the more they know about the community, the better.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
That's right. That's right.
John Hamilton:
And this just helps us do that.
Mary Catherine Carmichael :
Great. Thank you. If you want to get more information about this, there's a press release online, bloomington.in.gov. Be sure to check that out. There's a lot more information available there too. I'm Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael.
John Hamilton:
Mayor John Hamilton. Thanks for your attention.