Madison Mayor unveils two versions of 2025 executive operating budget

MADISON, Wisc. -- The City of Madison is asking voters to approve a $22 million referendum to help a deficit in the operating budget. On Tuesday, Mayor Satya Rhodes- Conway revealed what the budget would look like if that's approved or if it's not.

"In November, there's a simple choice on the ballot," she said. "We can choose to make those investments, or we can choose to back away from them."

The referendum will ask voters to approve $22 million dollars. That equates to $230 annual property tax increase for the average homeowner. That's roughly $50 per $100,000 of property value, or less than $1 per day for the median home.

The operating budget funds city staff and services. Version one of the budget looks at if the referendum is passed. In that case it will do the following, according to a press release:

• Reduce the budget of the independent monitor and reallocate money to the library system for Reindahl Imagination Center start-up costs
• Reallocate funds in public health away from less critical programs to violence prevention.
• Add two new street machine operators for garbage and recycling pick up to keep up with city growth
• Require every department to reduce budget by 1%
  • Saves taxpayers $3.4 million

"Over the past 14 years, we've asked the majority of our staff to do more with less," Rhodes-Conway said. "We've really reached the point where if we don't have new folks to drive a new truck, we're just not going to be able to pick up the trash."

She also added that this version of the budget is not too different from years past.

"It's essentially a cost to continue budget, and we are not proposing new big ideas," she said.

However, if voters do not approve the referendum, the city will look to version two of the operating budget. This version comes with a $5.6 million dollar cut in services. It would affect the following:

• Sunday library hours will be cut (except central library)
• Over $500,000 cut from community-based organizations
• Impact 18 full-time positions
• Metro will reduce service hours from their bus schedules
• Overtime hours would not be used to clear snow from arterial multi-use paths
• All funding for Office of the Independent Police Monitor and Police Civilian Oversight Board would be cut
• And more...

However, Rhodes-Conway said she hopes voters vote "yes" for the referendum. That's because she said, this won't be the first time cuts happen otherwise.

"In addition to cuts that would be necessary to make in 2025, it also anticipates that we would need to continue to make cuts year over year if other funding sources are not available," she said.

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