BLOOMINGTON -- Extending Constitution Trail, buying vacant lots, demolishing dilapidated buildings and rebuilding sidewalks are all downtown Bloomington improvements that can be paid for with a recently discovered $1.9 million windfall.

Auditors recently found the city's downtown tax increment financing district has a lot of extra cash to use to improve the 48-block district. A TIF district sets aside sales and property taxes generated in a specified area for the redevelopment of that area.

The new money has to be used to improve downtown and the city has roughly 11 weeks to spend the money, according to the city's TIF attorney, Kathleen Field Orr.

Any money leftover will be declared surplus and it will be divided with the other taxing bodies in the city including District 87, Heartland Community College and McLean County.

"Go after the big projects," said Jamie Mathy, co-owner Kelly's Bakery and vice president of the Downtown Bloomington Association. "The city has nearly $2 million to spend in downtown, when are they going to get that kind of opportunity again?"

Those "big projects" include buying the Elks Club and Golden Rule buildings across from the U.S. Cellular Coliseum for a possible hotel site. Also, the proposed Farr Associates plan for downtown include purchasing the Verizon parking lots on north Main Street and redeveloping them to fit the character of the surrounding buildings such as those that house the Chocolatier and the Common Ground.

City Manager David Hales presented a list of possible projects but the City Council has to pick its top priorities in the coming days.

Several aldermen said they would like to consider sharing the city's good fortune with the other taxing bodies.

District 87 would likely see the largest share of any money the city declared as surplus. The school district would be able to spend that money anyway it wants to without seeing its income from the state reduced, said Superintendent Bob Nielsen.

However, Nielsen said any surplus money they receive would go toward the $2 million deficit the district has in its current fiscal year's budget.

"But that's a decision for the council so I'm not adding it into our budgets just yet," Nielsen said.

DBA Executive Director Erika Kubsch said she was pleased to see the council's willingness to speak to business and property owners in downtown to see if they have any suggestions for spending the money. Kubsch liked the idea of spending the money on projects that benefit the entire downtown such as improving the streetscape.

However, putting more money into the DBA for its administrative work over downtown may not be considered. Orr said it is hard to argue why TIF funds should go to administer a program that will soon expire. The downtown TIF ends Dec. 31.

Other projects nixed by the city's TIF attorney were spending $300,000 to cover the cost of security at the Coliseum and spending $5,000 to install a wireless computer network in downtown. Orr said projects that do not directly redevelop or improve the downtown district are not legitimate TIF expenses.

Operating expenses and debts incurred by the Coliseum also would not qualify.