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Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway on a livestream news conference of the 2026 Executive Operating Budget on October 7, 2025.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway called the $22 million in revenue voters approved in the 2024 referendum 'critical' in the budget-writing process.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway is proposing to boost funding for Madison's newest library and men's homeless shelter and add nine more paramedics in her 2026 budget, released this week. She also has maintained funding for the city's Office of the Independent Monitor, just as the agency’s director resigned on Oct. 6.
The mayor’s $452.5 million budget makes no significant cuts to city agencies and adds 24 positions to the city’s workforce. It also includes a 3% cost-of-living raise for most city employees. Personnel costs, which include salaries and benefits, comprise 61% of the proposed expenditures. Overall spending would increase 4.6% from 2025.
Rhodes-Conway pitched the spending increases as a reflection of the city’s ongoing growth. Madison is expected to have 309,000 residents by 2030, according to the city’s 2023 comprehensive plan (the 2020 census lists nearly 270,000 residents).
At a Tuesday news conference, the mayor thanked Madison residents for passing the city’s $22 million operating budget referendum in 2024. Had the referendum not passed, significant layoffs and reductions in city services were planned.
“That additional revenue from the referendum was critical in providing flexibility in our city budget while we continue to lobby for fair treatment of local governments at the state level,” Rhodes-Conway said.
Here are some notable takeaways from the mayor’s budget:
Property tax increase
The budget proposes a 2.7% property tax increase, the lowest annual increase in 40 years, Rhodes-Conway said at the press conference. The average-value Madison home — now assessed at $481,300, up from $457,300 in 2025— would see an increase of around $30 a year.
Staffing for new northeast library
The mayor’s budget would add $320,000 in funding to pay for eight employees — one supervisor, three librarians, three library assistants, and one clerk — to staff the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park, expected to open in September 2026. An additional $1.15 million would be required in the city’s 2027 budget for year-round operations.
Securing funds for staffing at the library has been a struggle; some have proposed cutting services or hours at other libraries to fill in the gap. The budget Rhodes-Conway announced would “fully staff” the library and not impact service levels at other system libraries.
Rhodes-Conway also proposes adding $42,000 to the parks department’s budget to fund, in part, hourly staff to perform facility and park maintenance at the Imagination Center.
The library is the first new city library since Alicia Ashman Library opened on the far west side in 2000.
The Imagination Center will serve a growing area of Madison that has been called a “library desert.” The closest library to Reindahl Park, located on Portage Road off of East Washington Avenue, is the Hawthorne Public Library, an hour-long walk or eight-minute car ride away.
Additional ambulance, more paramedics
Nine new paramedics would be added to the Madison Fire Department to staff an additional city ambulance, bringing the total number of ambulances to 10. The positions are set to start in late 2026; the mayor has budgeted $250,000 for this. The annual cost of the positions in the 2027 budget would be $1 million.
Rhodes-Conway said more paramedics are needed due to increased demand for emergency services as the city grows.
“There were more than 200 times last year when every ambulance was out responding to a call,” Rhodes-Conway said. “That’s not sustainable as our community continues to grow. This level of call volume is already taking a toll on the paramedics and firefighters who dedicate their careers to serving the public during emergency situations.”
Funds for staff at new homeless shelter
The mayor’s budget includes an additional $1 million in annual funding for the new men’s homeless shelter at 1902 Bartillon Drive. The shelter is expected to open in the spring, though there is a substantial funding gap that must be filled before it can provide 24/7 service, as city and county officials have envisioned.
The city is contributing $1.7 million annually to shelter operations. Additional funding from the county, private sector and, potentially, nearby municipalities, is expected to cover the remainder.
Other items of note
The mayor’s budget proposes an additional $1.1 million for the office, which includes $220,000 for two new positions — an additional deputy chief clerk and an additional clerk leadworker — and the rest for salaries and expenses to administer four elections in 2026; there were two in 2025.
Helping out the budget this year was an increase in funding from the state for municipal services the city provides to property-tax-exempt facilities. Rhodes-Conway said in a letter attached to her budget proposal that Madison’s $2.4 million annual increase is “modest, but much needed.” The city is set to receive $10.4 million from the state through the program in 2026.
“It is hopefully a sign that the state Legislature is starting to understand that making up for decades of underfunding local governments across Wisconsin isn't and doesn't have to be a partisan issue,” Rhodes-Conway said at the press conference. She said the city will continue to lobby for more funds from the state.
The city’s finance committee is expected to review the budget starting Oct. 13. The full city council will debate the budget Nov. 11-13.
[Editor's note: This article was updated to clarify the proposed budget for the city clerk's office.]
