Common Council Leadership Statement Regarding the 2015 Budget

On Tuesday night the Common Council concluded two months of open, public, and deliberative process and adopted the 2015 City budget.  The budget reflects the priorities of our constituents and the needs of the City as a whole.
 
The Common Council firmly believes in the inclusive and deliberative process that has been followed in recent years and has resulted in budgets that retain basic services, improve human services, and maintain our Aaa bond rating despite the recent recession and challenges including but not limited to aging infrastructure, an inequitable economic recovery, and the need for new City facilities such as libraries, fire stations, and police stations.
 
We were informed by Mayor Soglin that he intends to veto the 2015 City budget unless substantial changes are made to the budget adopted on Tuesday.
 
We recognize that there are significant challenges ahead of the City and that addressing these challenges will take a careful examination of the long-term plans in the Capital budget. This discussion was pursued in part during this year’s budget process and the concerns were raised by the Mayor, Council leadership, and other Alders.  We maintain that there is sufficient time to consider these issues in coming months.  Furthermore, we concur that City employees who received a 1.5% raise in the 2015 budget have yet to be made whole from the mandatory cuts made under Act 10 and the pay disparities that have begun to arise between different employee groups.
 
We object to the timing of the demand that these issues be addressed after the budget was adopted. Making such changes after the public process is over does not allow for a clear and open process that the citizens of Madison have come to expect and deserve.
 
We stand behind the budget that we passed in an open, public, deliberative process. We believe that it meets the needs of the city and reflects our values, and that we accomplished this in a fiscally responsible manner.  We welcome open, public, and deliberative discussions about changing our long-term plans.