Madison has excellent basic services at a fair price
Two years ago I launched a program called “Madison Measures”. The idea is to measure the things that really count, like crime rates, unemployment rates, pavement conditions on City streets, the length of time it takes to respond to a fire call, or how long it takes to clean up after a snow storm.
We will add two new fire stations over four years when Station 12 opens on the West Side early next year. This comes after we had not added a single new station in the previous 25 years.
 We also created “Pothole Patrol” to take better care of our streets, and “Mowtown” to improve the care of our medians and parks. How well we take care of our streets, medians and parks sends a signal – fair or not – about how we well take care of our City.
To explore a better, more customer-friendly system of accessing city services, I have requested a report on the feasibility of creating a “311”- type hotline for municipal services and information. This will provide residents and visitors with a one number portal to access all city non-emergency services.
While making all of these needed investments, we also need to keep a close eye on the bottom line, to make sure we provide the highest-quality services at a fair price. I have worked hard each year to introduce a budget with a property tax increase at about the 15-year average.
 One way we have kept costs under control is through TRIM – Taxpayer Relief through Innovative Measures. TRIM is about using innovation and efficiency to get a lot more done without a lot more resources. For instance, automated recycling allows us to serve more households without increasing staff. So we save money on staff, vehicles and fuel. More things can be recycled, which is good for the environment, saves us money through reduced landfill fees and lengthens the life of the county landfill.
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