FAQ: Urban Forestry Special Charge

The Urban Forestry Special Charge was created by Common Council on October 30, 2014, and is codified at Madison General Ordinances Sec. 4.095. 

The ordinance allows for the costs related to the work of the Urban Forestry section to be separated from the annual operating budget and instead paid for by this special charge instead of the property taxes.

So, this is a special charge on all real property in Madison exists in order to recover all urban forestry costs to maintain, protect, and grow the our urban forest while maintaining existing levels of service associated with the urban forestry program. 

Services provided by the Urban Forestry program ensure a healthy, vibrant and sustainable urban forest, which benefits all residents and properties.

Urban Forestry crews work on the trees within the public right of way area that line City of Madison streets. 

 An individual parcel's special charge rate is determined by its usage classification, which is set by the Madison Water Utility.

The monthly rate is figured is set through a combination of primary linear street frontage, parcel usage classification, and the number of parcels in that classification.  The special charge is apportioned using the following method:

1. The Madison Water Utility assigns a usage category to each parcel in the City that receives a stormwater utility bill. See the Urban Forestry Special Charge Rates table for the usage category count breakdown.
2. Each category's portion of the urban forestry special charge is determined by that category's parcels' aggregate portion of the city's primary parcel street frontage.
3. Each parcel's portion of its category's portion is determined by dividing the category's portion of street frontage by the number of parcels in the category.
4. Each parcel's annual charge is determined by multiplying the parcel's portion of the charge (as determined in step 3) by the total annual revenue target*.
5. Each parcel's monthly charge will then be determined by dividing the result of step 4 by the number of billing cycles in the year.

* The revenue target is set above the approved charge, which are set by the Common Council, to allow City agencies to recover the approved amount of the special charge.

Directly tying individual parcels primary street frontage to the charge has several shortcomings:

1. This method would place disproportionately high burden on a small number of select parcels while providing only minimal savings to a large number of parcels.
2. Per Madison General Ordinances Sec. 4.095, no parcels are exempt from paying the Urban Forestry Special Charge. Apportioning the special charge by linear street frontage would lead to more than 900 parcels not paying the Urban Forestry Special Charge as they do not have positive primary street frontage. The Urban Forest provides benefits to all parcels in the City, and those parcels without positive primary street front cannot legally be exempt from paying the Urban Forestry Special Charge.
3. Finally, apportioning the charge by individual linear street frontage would have incurred significantly more upfront and ongoing administrative costs. The current policy can be administered efficiently and immediately for less than $10,000 in set up costs and minimal ongoing staff time. Implementing the charge by individual parcel linear street frontage, meanwhile, is estimated to cost at least three times the set up cost and would require near constant ongoing staff time throughout the year to ensure individual parcel Urban Forestry Special Charges are being administered accurately.

A healthy, vibrant, and sustainable urban forest provides benefits to all residents of Madison and not just to those who have parcels adjacent to City trees. Urban trees enhance the quality of oxygen, retain stormwater run-off, increase property values, and improves the overall quality of life. Thus, residents of all parcel types shall help uphold the quality of the urban forest in the City of Madison.

The City’s costs to provide services are higher than its ability to generate revenue to pay for these services. This is called a "structural deficit."

Years ago, the state legislature placed limits on local governments' ability to increase property taxes to pay for the services they provide.  And the legislature also limits state aid to local governments, and limits other ways they can generate revenue so they don't have to rely so much on property taxes. 

This means municipalities have limited options when it comes to finding services.  They can cut the service, or they can find other ways to pay for it, which is where special charges for certain services are allowed.

This is why the Urban Forestry Special charge exists. 

The Urban Forestry Special Charge began in 2014. The problem described above was true then, and it's true today, too. 

The Urban Forestry Special Charge was created as a way to pay for necessary services to maintain our urban forest and all of the benefits it provides all of us. 

The Urban Forestry Special Charge revenues are collected through Madison Municipal Services bill and be allocated into a designated fund. 

These funds will then be used specifically to pay for the costs already incurred by the City to support the services of the urban forestry program. 

These costs include, but not limited to, mitigating pests like emerald ash borer and spongy moth, storm response, planting new trees, staff maintenance time, and forestry maintenance equipment.