The Madison City Council voted Tuesday night to put a $22 million property tax referendum on the ballot in November.
The council approved the proposal 17-2. It’s part of Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s long-term plan to close the city’s budget gap without making deep cuts to city services.
“The approval of a referendum in November is the only budgetary path in 2025 that protects our values as a community, while we work to address the chronic underfunding of local governments at the state level,” Rhodes-Conway said in a statement after the meeting ended.
Only Alds. Isadore Knox Jr., 14th District, and Barbara Harrington-McKinney, 20th District, voted against the resolution.
People are also reading…
“While I voted ‘yes’ tonight to place the referendum on the ballot, this does not mean I support a tax increase,” Ald. Bill Tishler, 11th District, said in a blog post following the meeting. “I voted ‘yes’ because I believe Madison residents should have the opportunity to decide on this matter themselves.”
The referendum would increase annual property taxes for the average Madison home — valued at $457,300 in 2024 — by about $230. Earlier estimates put the added amount closer to $240.
Under Rhodes-Conway’s plan, Madison would be able to avoid significant cuts to services through 2030 by spending $25 million from its reserves, saving several million dollars through efficiencies and introducing new special charges starting in 2027, unless the state government changes how the city is allowed to raise money.
If the referendum fails, Rhodes-Conway’s plan also calls for $6 million in permanent cuts to services in 2025 and additional cuts by 2027, and more new special charges starting in 2025. Still, the city projects that the budget gap would return by 2027 and reach $22 million again by 2030.
Potential cuts if the referendum is unsuccessful include reducing library hours, closing Goodman Pool, delaying snow clearing, the elimination of night or weekend bus service and the downsizing of the police and fire departments, among many others.
Also on Tuesday, the council rejected an alternative proposal by Ald. Marsha Rummel, 6th District, to raise the referendum amount to $29 million in exchange for nearly eliminating the city’s urban forestry special charge.
The urban forestry special charge is expected to cost $7.5 million in 2025. Funding $7 million through the referendum, rather than the city’s current flat fee, would have resulted in net savings for residents with homes valued at or under about $525,000, according to city staff.
“It’s more equitable for taxpayers, on some level, to use the tax levy to pay for services,” Rummel said, compared to “a more regressive special charge tax.”
Several alders said they supported the idea but weren’t voting in favor over concerns that the higher referendum amount would make it more difficult to counter misinformation among their constituents before they head to the polls in November.
“I think that what we’ve seen is that we have enough of the populace that doesn’t support a referendum at all because they simply don’t understand why we’re here,” said Ald. Regina Vidaver, 5th District.
“The idea of having to raise the taxes in order to lower taxes can get confusing,” Tishler said. “The timing is just not good in this situation, at least for me.”
Rummel’s amendment failed 17-2. Rummel and Knox voted for it.
