Message from the Mayor

Update on the 2025 Budget and Referendum 

Good Afternoon –

Last week, the Madison Common Council officially voted 17-2 to place a $22 million property tax referendum on the ballot in November.

The City is facing a deficit because of the continuing punitive restrictions placed by the state legislature on the revenue that Wisconsin cities can use to fund their budgets. Despite our strong local economy, these restrictions have made it impossible for the City to keep up with inflation and a growing population. In order to continue providing the same level of service in the future, we are forced to seek voters’ approval to increase our budget through a referendum.

The Council’s vote this week shows robust support for your work and the services we provide to the community.

On November 5, the community will vote on the referendum. The Common Council will deliberate and adopt a final 2025 budget the following week. Unfortunately, if the referendum does not pass, we will have to make significant budget cuts – as well as raising city fees and spending some of the City’s reserves – in order to adopt a balanced budget, as we are required to by state law. We are currently estimating the amount of those cuts to be around $6 million. I know many of you have been doing more with less for years, and we cannot ask you to stretch any thinner to continue providing the same level of service. Instead, this year, budget reductions will have to come with difficult choices about how we are changing our level of service. There will just be some things that we cannot do anymore.

I hope we don’t have to make these cuts. I hope a referendum passes because our community deserves the high-quality services you provide. And I am optimistic that our residents will decide it is worth paying around $19/month on the average home to keep those services. I will be doing my best to explain the choice to residents in a clear and concise way.

I also know this uncertainty is stressful, and that even the idea of service cuts can cause stress and trigger past trauma. One thing we can do is to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves. Organizational Development has highlighted a course on Trauma Informed Living that may be helpful, especially if the current environment is activating previous times of stress in your life.

Another thing we can do is share stories of the great work that City employees do every day. Please do not hesitate to share these stories with your supervisor or our Communications Manager, Dylan Brogan. Also feel free to talk about the valuable work you do with your neighbors and families on your own time.

If you do talk with people about the referendum, please remember that we have to ensure that as City employees we are not using City time or resources to campaign for or against the referendum. On City time and as a City representative, we can share information about our services and what budget cuts could mean for our services. But we cannot tell people how to vote. To be clear, this applies only to your time on the clock. Employees are free to campaign on their own time using their own resources either for or against the referendum. For more information here is some guidance from the City Attorney’s Office.

Please know your service and commitment to the City are so appreciated, and your work is incredibly valuable to the community.

Be well,

Mayor Satya