Late in the summer, Madison Metro submitted its funding request to the city of Fitchburg for an increase of about $20,000.
But then on Nov. 8 — just a few days before Fitchburg was set to approve its budget — Metro amended its invoice, says Fitchburg’s city administrator, Patrick Marsh. The new bill was $580,443, an increase of more than $66,000 over this year.
“This was after all the budget amendments had been submitted and after we could amend the budget at all,” Marsh says.
Fitchburg wasn’t the only Metro partner put in this bind. In early November, Madison increased the amount requested of its 10 partners by about 15 percent, says Tom Lynch, Madison’s director of transportation.
The late request has a few suburban municipalities struggling to pay the invoices and it could lead to service cuts. “All of them have expressed concern regarding the timing of it because everyone was in the midst of voting on final budgets,” Lynch says.
Lynch says that the late request was due to Madison’s large budget gap — the difference between projected costs and revenues — which at one point was calculated at $11 million.
“Because the city’s operating budget was dynamic over the summer, more advance notification to our partner cities didn’t occur,” Lynch says. “And so they weren’t able to plan as well as they could have.”
In providing bus service, Madison Metro partners with 10 entities: the cities of Middleton, Fitchburg, Verona, and Sun Prairie, the town of Madison, the village of Shorewood Hills, UW-Madison, UW Hospital, Madison College and the Madison school district.
Metro’s $60 million operating budget is paid for by several sources, including state and federal funding and fares. But the city and its partners kick in additional money, determined by the number of hours the buses are serving each entity.
Of the partners, UW-Madison pays the largest share — its bill for 2020 is $1.8 million. The Madison school district is scheduled to pay $883,000 next year. Shorewood Hills will contribute the lowest amount, $30,000.
Middleton officials had already set aside an extra $5,000 for Metro because they wanted to expand service on some routes, says Bill Burns, Middleton’s finance director.
But then on Nov. 8 — right before Middleton was set to approve its budget — Metro asked the city for an extra $69,594, for a total of $494,582.
Using some contingency funds and the money it had budgeted for expanded service, Middleton’s council was able to cover the additional request. “Because we were just trying to cover the base cost of service … we did not end up pursuing any of the other options we’d been looking at to expand services,” Burns says.
Sun Prairie began partnering with Metro just a few months ago. Over the summer, Metro told the city its share would be $130,000. But in early November, it increased this amount by $11,500, says Philip Gritzmacher, Jr., an urban planner with Sun Prairie.
“At this point, there is a shortfall in the budget, but we are hopeful that farebox recovery from strong ridership will bridge the gap between the budgeted amount and the new Metro request,” Gritzmacher says.
Fitchburg officials aren’t sure what will happen, Marsh says. “There’s no room [in the budget] for the additional [money],” he says. “We’ve been having conversations with the city of Madison and they’ve said they’ll provide us with some options by the middle of December.”
“Cuts to service could be one of the options,” Marsh adds.
Lynch says that Madison officials are working hard to figure out a solution. “We’re viewing this as a partnership,” he says. “The buses that go to Fitchburg also go to Madison.”
He adds: “We’re now doubling back and saying, ‘How can we make this work?’”
