Matthew Norman
Governor Tony Evers.
Madison would receive an additional $7 million annually under Gov. Tony Evers' proposal.
Gov. Tony Evers is proposing to nearly double funding for the state program that reimburses municipalities for police, fire and waste management services to property tax-exempt state facilities.
Lawmakers have steadily cut funding for the municipal services payments program over the past two decades, an issue city officials called attention to as Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway pushed for a $22 million operating budget referendum in the fall.
Municipalities in 2024 provided a total of $49.4 million worth of eligible services to state facilities, but lawmakers did not pay $31 million of what they owe. The city of Madison received $13 million less than what it was owed in 2024.
The same year, Waukesha, in deep-red Waukesha County, received $163,000 of the $432,000 owed. Mayor Shawn Reilly told Isthmus in February that the state “should be colorblind, in regards to politics, for paying for police and fire services for your facilities.”
Evers has kept funding levels for the program relatively stagnant in recent years: his 2021 budget proposal advised a bump of $2 million and in 2023 he proposed a $929,000 increase.
The governor is now proposing an additional $17 million be added to the program — currently funded at $18.6 million — in his 2025-27 budget. The percent of costs covered under the program would increase from 37.6% to 72%. Were that increase to go through, Madison would receive an additional $7 million annually, says city finance director Dave Schmiedicke.
“There is always more work to do, and Gov. Evers will continue working to do the right thing for our state by advocating to increase support for local communities statewide, including through new budget initiatives designed to make local communities whole while holding the line to prevent property tax increases across Wisconsin,” says Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback.
Evers and Republican legislators brokered a shared revenue deal in 2023 that netted Wisconsin municipalities an additional $205.3 million in shared revenue in 2024, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum. But Madison saw the lowest per-capita increase — $11 dollars — of any Wisconsin municipality under the deal.
The proposal would bring the percent of costs covered under the municipal services payments program to the highest level it’s been in 15 years and annually adjust the program to state sales tax growth starting in FY 2026-27.
But it’s unlikely Republicans will sign on. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told Isthmus in February that it’s “unlikely” the state would fully fund the program in the upcoming budget. Vos did not respond to a request for comment. Joint Finance Committee chairs Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, also did not respond to requests for comment about whether they would support the governor’s increase.
Rhodes-Conway’s chief of staff, Sam Munger, says the city is working with other municipalities to find common ground on a “host of legislative issues,” and hopes state lawmakers “will seriously consider the many good portions of the governor’s budget, including this one.”
Ald. Tag Evers, a member of the city’s finance committee, notes that the city is in an “era of mounting uncertainty,” with federal funding cuts looming.
“Given that daunting reality, it's even more critical that we get fairly reimbursed for services rendered.”
