City of Madison Adopts 2027 Budget

posted 

For Immediate Release 
November 10, 2026

The Common Council chambers with row blue chairs facing a wooden dais

The Madison Common Council has approved a capital and operating budget for 2027. Despite continued state-imposed restrictions, next year's City Budget maintains essential services while keeping property taxes stable. It also prioritizes community safety and key services while building on recent progress to create more homes and keep our city affordable. 

This year's budget sets Madison up for future success with investments in our infrastructure that are essential to our high quality of life. Though difficult, we avoided cuts to important services by finding efficiencies and ways to maximize our impact. Thank you to my colleagues on the Council for their thoughtful contributions to the budget process. 

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Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway

Key Accomplishments

  • Nearly a million dollars in efficiencies, which will limit the burden on property taxpayers while preserving essential City services;
  • An additional $12 million for the affordable housing fund to help meet our goal of creating 15,000 more homes by 2030, as the City has added 2,534 net homes so far in 2026 and is on pace for its strongest year since before the pandemic;
  • Continued ambitious, generational investment in social housing through the Triangle Redevelopment Project;
  • Investments in violence prevention and a new body-worn camera program;
  • Funding for a 10th ambulance company and for staffing at the recently opened Imagination Center Library; and
  • Fair compensation for City employees to sustain a high level of service to our residents.

There is much to celebrate in next year's City budget. We were able to avoid new special charges that were called for in the five-year operating budget plan, as well as reductions in service that would disproportionately impact the residents who can least afford it. In future years, the state-imposed structural deficit will continue to be a major concern for Wisconsin cities. However, I'm optimistic that the new leadership at the state and federal levels will finally change what has amounted to decades of disinvestment in local governments.

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Mayor Rhodes-Conway

Results Madison 

For the first time, the 2027 operating budget includes agency data from Results Madison. The goal of this initiative is to make it easier for the public, City staff, and elected officials to make data-informed policy decisions. We strongly encourage residents to review the Results Madison data, and we look forward to expanding this ongoing effort to increase transparency into City operations in future budgets. 

Departments:

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