ARE WE ACTUALLY LISTENING?

As the Alder of District 20, I have heard from residents who care deeply about affordability, public safety, sustainability, neighborhood character and quality of life. They may approach these issues from different perspectives, but they share a common desire: they want a Madison that works for everyone. 

Dear Members of the Finance Committee,

I am writing to register my strong opposition to the proposed $6.5 million Project Plan Amendment for TID 44 (Royster Clark, File #93406) and the parallel Project Plan Amendment for TID 46 (Research Park, File #93412) currently before the Finance Committee.

While individual capital allocations like stormwater ponds, land banking, and sewer improvements are individually defensible, approving $11.9 million in combined new capital expansions that deliberately extend the operational life cycles of existing Tax Incremental Districts is structurally irresponsible while the city faces a severe General Fund deficit.

We cannot continue to treat our Capital Budget expansions and our Operational Budget crises as if they exist on two separate planets. They are structurally linked, and the recent pattern of handling our TIF districts proves it.

I urge the Committee to place a hold on or file these amendments based on three concrete fiscal realities:

1. The Pattern of Revenue Segregation and Artificial Starvation

Just weeks ago, the Common Council unanimously amended the Economic Development budget to authorize major TIF actions—including the TID 54 agreement assisting Realta Fusion at the old Oscar Mayer site and the TID 55 amendment to fund the purchase of four properties at the old Voit Farm (Starkweather neighborhood) for the city's land banking program.

While those projects may have clear policy goals, adding even more capital weight to older districts like TID 44 ($6.5M for Royster Corners site acquisition and Cottage Grove Road stormwater ponds) and TID 46 ($5.4M for West Towne area parks and S. Yellowstone Drive sewers) reveals a problematic administrative trend.

TID 44 alone sits on an estimated $114 million in incremental taxable property value. By continuously stacking new project costs into these mature districts, the city artificially prolongs their lifespans toward extended closure windows (projected out to 2029 for TID 44). This strategy actively prevents hundreds of millions of dollars in established property value from dissolving back into the general tax rolls, where they would directly relieve our cash-starved General Fund.

2. The Contradiction of Operational Austerity

The Mayor's Office has mandated a 2% across-the-board operational budget reduction for city departments. We are telling our frontline services that they must manage service friction and personnel shortages because "the money isn't there." This includes the Madison Police Department, which is currently capped at 492 authorized officers and absorbing severe recruitment and field onboarding gaps; it also includes the Madison Fire Department, which is still regularly running out of ambulances and crews even after adding an extra unit in the last budget season.

Yet, on the very same docket, the city routinely finds statutory mechanisms to borrow, spend, and allocate millions of dollars in TIF capacity to buy real estate, bank land, and subsidize localized infrastructure. The public cannot reconcile a municipal ledger that enforces austerity on street-level operational services while consistently expanding capital debt to extend development districts.

3. Opportunity Cost and Structural Priority

Every dollar of borrowing capacity and every year of delayed TIF dissolution carries a massive opportunity cost. Pushing the closure of these mature districts out further simply to fund specialized, non-urgent capital expansions shifts the tax burden directly onto everyday Madison homeowners (and indirectly, renters), while protecting ring-fenced development funds from stabilizing our city's core operational needs.

If the structural deficit is as severe as the administration claims, then our policy choices must reflect that emergency across all funds. We must stop expanding the spending scope of successful TIF districts to keep them open.

I request that the Finance Committee vote to place on file or place a formal committee hold on the TID 44 amendment (File #93406) and the TID 46 amendment (File #93412). Let these successful districts move toward dissolution so their combined property values can begin serving the entire city's General Fund, rather than insulating localized capital projects at the expense of our frontline public safety and community infrastructure.

Thank you for your time, fiscal oversight, and consideration.

Sincerely: Bonnie Roe, District 11
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 Addressing the Fiscal Reality of Rapid Growth - Lisa Veldran, Meadowood Resident

“…we must confront the broader operational reality of adding thousands of new residents to the southwest side. This scale of development will naturally drive up demand for essential city services—-including police, fire, community development and public health services. With the State of Wisconsin maintaining strict levy limits, the city cannot continue to fund these expanding operational costs by simply shifting the burden onto the backs of existing property taxpayers.  My request…the City must clearly articulate a sustainable, long-term fiscal strategy to fund these expanding operational necessary expansion of public safety, community development and health services without compounding the financial strain on current homeowners.