Madison City Council proposes additions to mayor’s $266.5 million capital budget | #citycouncil

The council’s 16 proposed amendments, to be considered by the city’s Finance Committee on Tuesday, introduce no major new initiatives.

“I appreciate that alders spent time considering the capital budget and offering amendments,” Rhodes-Conway said. “I look forward to the discussion surrounding these amendments and know that the council will carefully balance the need to invest in our growing city against the need to control debt service over the next decade.”

The mayor’s proposal, introduced on Sept. 4, fully funds a now $18.6 million “Imagination Center” with a new library and park pavilion at Reindahl Park on the East Side, doubles the Affordable Housing Fund and continues to pour resources into the South Side.

Her proposal also provides $11 million for the first phase of a $300 million redevelopment of the city’s piece of The Triangle public housing Downtown, provides $15.2 million for flood mitigation and $5.1 million to mitigate PFAS pollution at Well 15 on the Far East Side, and funds planning for the north-south segment of Bus Rapid Transit from Northport Avenue to Fitchburg next year.

It delivers an extra $2 million to meet rising costs of the now roughly $23 million homeless men’s shelter to be built at 1901 Bartillon Drive on the Far East Side.

Major council amendments include:

• Ald. Tag Evers, 13th District, proposes to add $3.2 million in tax incremental financing (TIF) district-supported borrowing due to construction bids received for site and stormwater work and a parking ramp for a now $22.2 million redevelopment at the Village on Park mall on the South Side. The project will be rebid as three separate projects to attract more competition and reduce costs.
• Ald. Regina Vidaver, 5th District, proposes to add $250,000 in general fund-supported borrowing in 2024 and 2025 for an experimental forgivable loan program to help fund capital expenses for the acquisition, development, improvement or expansion of spaces used to provide early child care services by child care businesses.
• Evers and council vice president Yannette Figueroa Cole propose to add $1 million in borrowing in 2024 and each year of the nonbinding, five-year Capital Improvement Plan, or CIP, for a loan program for small capital projects proposed by nonprofits to meet facility needs that benefit specific neighborhoods or populations.
• Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District, proposes to add $800,000 in TIF-supported borrowing in 2024 for additional design services for the John Nolen Drive reconstruction project, specifically for increased project boundaries and extending a new multi-use path along North Shore Drive.
• Verveer proposes to add $1 million in TIF-supported in 2024 and $4 million in general fund borrowing in 2027 for design and construction of a new pedestrian and bicycle underpass on John Nolen Drive near North Shore Drive and Broom Street.

Council members also proposed adding several items to the city’s “Horizon List” for projects that meet a clear community purpose but are not yet fleshed out enough to be included in the five-year CIP. Those include a park shelter and amenities at Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park, a splash pad at Warner Park and a new Wingra Triangle mini-park.

Rhodes-Conway declined to announce support for or opposition to any specific amendments on Friday.

The mayor’s budget proposal relies on $149.2 million in borrowing and $117.3 million from other sources, such as federal or state grants. Debt payments are projected to be 17% of the city’s operating budget next year, about the same as this year.

All told, the council proposals would add $6.77 million in borrowing and $25,000 from other sources, pushing the capital budget to $273.3 million.

On Oct. 3, Rhodes-Conway will introduce an operating budget for 2024, followed by Finance Committee consideration of operating budget amendments that month and City Council adoption of both budgets the week of Nov. 13.