MADISON, Wisc. — The City of Madison is asking voters to approve a $22 million referendum to help a deficit in the operating budget. On Tuesday, Mayor Satya Rhodes- Conway revealed what the budget would look like if that’s approved or if it’s not.
“In November, there’s a simple choice on the ballot,” she said. “We can choose to make those investments, or we can choose to back away from them.”
The referendum will ask voters to approve $22 million dollars. That equates to $230 annual property tax increase for the average homeowner. That’s roughly $50 per $100,000 of property value, or less than $1 per day for the median home.
The operating budget funds city staff and services. Version one of the budget looks at if the referendum is passed. In that case it will do the following, according to a press release:
- Reduce the budget of the independent monitor and reallocate money to the library system for Reindahl Imagination Center start-up costs
- Reallocate funds in public health away from less critical programs to violence prevention.
- Add two new street machine operators for garbage and recycling pick up to keep up with city growth
- Require every department to reduce budget by 1%
- Saves taxpayers $3.4 million