The city would close a $5.2 million funding gap for the proposed Madison Public Market, paving the way for the stalled plan to continue, under an amendment to Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s 2023 budget plan City Council members will take up next week.
The amendment offers up to $6 million in TIF district money to get the plan moving after increased construction costs threatened to derail it.
Funding the public market is the biggest of eight amendments City Council members will seek to add to the mayor’s capital budget, which stands at $365.6 million after the city Finance Committee’s deliberations.
In the largest increase in city spending to Rhodes-Conway’s operating budget, council members are proposing to more than double council pay from $14,904 to $31,793, plus premiums for council leadership, in April 2023. The same proposal failed on a 3-3 tie before the Finance Committee, which adjusted the mayor’s capital budget to $273.4 million.
People are also reading…
Other significant capital budget amendments: $3.5 million more for a grocery store on South Park Street and $2.35 million for a housing and commercial project on the East Side.
Operating budget amendments include two competing proposals, with different funding sources, to expand the Community Alternative Response Emergency Services program, or CARES, which responds to 911 calls for behavioral health emergencies. The city also would accept a recent $30.9 million award from the U.S. Treasury Department to continue emergency rental assistance efforts.
“On the whole, it’s not a very long list,” Rhodes-Conway said. “(But) they can’t do all the operating amendments they proposed. It will be interesting to see how that conversation goes.”
The council will begin making final decisions starting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, but deliberations could push into Wednesday and Thursday.
Money for market
The city has long planned to convert its former two-story, 45,000-square-foot Fleet Services building, on 3.4 acres at 200 N. First St., into a year-round public market.
But in late August, the city revealed that rising construction costs had added $1.8 million to the cost of the project, pushing it to $20 million. As a result, the city withdrew an application for a $3.4 million federal grant, a key piece of the market’s financing package, because the city couldn’t meet a deadline to guarantee how it would cover the additional costs. The series of events left a $5.2 million shortfall.
Earlier this week, the Dane County Board approved an amendment to the county’s capital budget to borrow $1.5 million to help the city close the funding gap.
Now, Alds. Syed Abbas, Regina Vidaver and Nasra Wehelie are proposing to use up to $6 million from a robust TIF district on the East Washington Avenue corridor to close the gap. The amendment also supports the county’s contribution and directs city staff to continue to seek new sources of funding, as well as trim project costs.
The mayor was noncommittal on the plan, saying she wants a council conversation on the matter.
Council pay
After failing at the Finance Committee, council President Keith Furman and others re-offered an amendment to more than double council pay. Supporters say the move would mean a living wage for council members, opening opportunities for more people and making the council more equitable.
Currently, pay for council members is budgeted at $14,904 each for 2022, with the vice president making $16,078 and the president $18,135. The mayor’s budgeted salary for 2022 is $157,548.
Although every council member handles the job a bit differently, the city has determined that members are assumed to work 1,082 hours annually, or about 20.8 hours a week. The last pay increase, of $4,400 annually, came in 2015.
The amendment would raise council member pay from $13.77 per hour, or $14,904 annually, to $29.38 per hour, or $31,793 a year. It also would give an increase to council leaders, bumping premiums for those jobs to $31.69 an hour, or $34,297 annually, for the vice president and $35.75 an hour, or $38,686 annually, for the president.
“I understand the intention,” the mayor said. “I do think being an alder is a difficult job. I think it’s a big jump.”
Grocery, housing
Other capital amendments support a grocery on the South Side and a large housing and commercial project on the South Side.
South Side Alds. Sheri Carter and Tag Evers are proposing to spend another $3.5 million for improvements and the interior build-out of a grocery that’s part of the $42 million, six-story Truman Olson redevelopment underway at 815 Cedar St., formerly 1402 S. Park St.
The city is finalizing negotiations with Maurer’s Urban Market, which is based in Wisconsin Dells, to fill the 24,000-square-foot commercial space at the project. The lease payments should repay the $3.5 million in a decade, the amendment says.
“Unfortunately, it’s necessary,” Rhodes-Conway said. “The city is 100% committed to maintaining a grocery on the South Side.”
Meanwhile, Alds. Abbas and Wehelie want to deliver $2.3 million from a TIF district that’s been proposed to support Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp.’s $72.8 million project that would offer 245 low-cost housing units, 4,000 square feet of commercial space and 282 parking spots at 3401 E. Washington Ave.
Four council members also are proposing a $1 million grant to River Food Pantry, which plans to move from its North Side site, purchase land and develop a new facility. The total project costs $6.7 million. The county’s budget also includes $1.5 million for the project.
Other amendments include:
- $65,160 for a Parks Division volunteer coordinator.
- $74,460 for a full-time investigator in the Department of Civil Rights.
- $65,000 to buy 1,000, 31-day bus passes for low-income residents to be distributed by community organizations.
- $225,000 for a culvert crossing and paved path at Manchester Park.
- $168,000 for three unmarked police squad cars and equipment for six officers to start the 2023 preservice academy.
