Graham Brown
City budget meeting May 29 at the Village on Park, Atrium Community Room
Attendees at the south-side budget engagement meeting on May 29 split into small groups to discuss city services, concerns and thoughts about the future of Madison.
City of Madison Finance Director David Schmiedicke was joined by several alders and community leaders Wednesday night as he delivered the third presentation this month on the city's budget and its structural deficit. The tour is an early effort to explain the city’s budget situation before a highly expected referendum appears on the ballot in November.
Wednesday’s meeting, designed for south-side residents, was scheduled to take place at Goodman South Public Library, but high turnout at the May 16 west-side meeting prompted organizers to move to the more accommodating Atrium Community Room at the Village on Park. It was standing room only, but more subdued than the west-side meeting, which featured a challenging crowd and a live Q&A format.
Instead residents Wednesday night were asked to submit notecards filled, sometimes front and back, with their questions and concerns. Schmiedicke read some of them out loud and provided answers on the intricacies of the budget process. While not all questions were answered in person, organizers promised all outstanding questions would be answered by email in the coming days. After Schmiedicke yielded the podium, attendees were split into small groups where they discussed such things as their concerns about Madison and the city services that they value.
Schmiedicke projects that the city’s $27 million structural deficit expected for 2025 will swell to $50 million by the end of the decade.
Due to state restraints on increasing revenue, the city of Madison must cut spending or seek voters' approval to raise property taxes before the next fiscal year. Schmiidicke warned that cutting $27 million from the operations budget would result in the loss of approximately 275 employees — nearly 10% of all city workers. He said these layoffs would have to be permanent, as furloughs would only cause the deficit to reappear. He estimates that a property tax increase of 4% — or $285 per year on the average, $424,000 home — would also close the long term funding gap.
Dylan Brogan, the city’s new communications manager, dismissed the notion of significant opposition to the expected referendum, arguing that a small group of activists hijacked the west-side meeting to argue about “petty, personal issues.”
With preliminary language for the referendum not expected for at least several weeks, Brogan says “There’s really nothing to be for or against at this point.”
The city recently reported a surprising $31 million surplus for last year. Schmiedicke argued this was mostly a consequence of high interest rates, which affect city bonds, and millions of federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan. But that money is “one-time money,” he said. While it is enough to close the deficit this year, Schmiedicke said it would not solve the long-term deficit problem.
Still, Schmiedicke’s methodical presentation did not answer all concerns. As one attendee wrote on their notecard, “Isn’t using the money as a one-time use better than not using it at all?” Others expressed concern that libraries or other public services will see damaging cuts and expressed frustration over the state laws Schmiedicke and other city leaders said were “purposely designed to disadvantage Madison.”
The city receives just $29 per resident in state funding compared to the average of $140 across Wisconsin, has no power to increase sales tax, minimal power to increase property tax, and cannot cut funding to the police or fire departments without jeopardizing future state funds.
“We’re the state’s economic center and we’re punished for it,” said Brogan.
Upcoming meetings include one intended for downtown residents, May 30 at the Madison Municipal Building, with virtual options available, and a final one for north-side residents June 5 at Black Hawk Middle School.
