Let's Talk Budget: 2025 Capital Agency Requests

Hola!

As we dig into the 2025 Budget Agency's Requests, I want to emphasize that your participation is not just welcomed, it's crucial. Your insights and queries regarding the budget are invaluable to us, your alders. While the budget may seem more complex than your household budget, we have a dedicated finance team ready to assist us in navigating it. They are well-versed in each budget component and the policies and legislative rules that govern funding and expenditures.

This blog has four (4) parts:

1. The Capital Budget timeline and Engagement opportunities
2. A Preliminary List of Budget Items Impacting District 10
3. A list of additional projects that impact the entire City
4. A Navigation of the Capital Budget book

The Capital Budget timeline and Engagement opportunities:

The budget discussions started in April. Currently, we are in the middle of the Capital Budget Agency Requests.

So, what exactly is the Capital Budget? It's the City of Madison's Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), a strategic financial document that outlines investments to enhance the City's infrastructure, assets, and services in the long run.

• A capital project is a large-scale, time-limited program with a defined start and end date.
• A capital program is a large-scale, continuing work plan.
• The Capital Budget appropriates funding for capital projects and programs for the first year of the CIP.
• The CIP also includes a five-year outlook as a plan for the future.

Budget Timeline: The Capital Budget Runs from April to November

Engagement Opportunities:

• Contact your Alders
• Watch finance meetings
• Register for Public Hearings
• Explore the Finance's Budget site

A Preliminary List of Budget Items Impacting District 10 (PDF list at the end of the blog)

Thus far, I have run across the following projects; this file includes the budget page as a reference. Use this information to learn more about each project:

• Various CDA Redevelopments in the CIP, expanding from 2025 to 2027 and including two locations in District 10: 5838 Russet Road & 1810 S. Whitney Way
• Streets Reconstruction Nakoma to Cherokee, Shawnee to Cherokee
• Streets Reconstruction and Water Main replacements: Raymond Rd - Kroncke Dr
• Streets Reconstruction and Water Main replacements: Mohican Pass to Hammersley, Pontiac to N End, Pontiac to S End, Pontiac to W End
• Sidewalk Repairs are done per area, and in 2025, repairs are coming to Districts 10 & 20
• Meadowridge Library maintenance CIP 2025-2026
• 2030 CIP - CDA Redevelopment Mosaic Ridge - Allied Townhomes
• 2028 CIP W Beltline Bike Path Seminole to Landmark2
• 2028 CIP Unit Well #8 - 3206 Lakeland Ave2

• 2027-2028 CIP Sewer improvement project located along TOD Overlay Zoning Districts related to the Bus Rapid Transit

  

A list of additional projects that impact the entire City (PDF list at the end of the blog)

• Triangle Redevelopment Phase 2-3 is expected to produce roughly 1,200 units of mixed socioeconomic households. Funds are anticipated to come from various sources, such as tax credits, reserves, TIF, federal funds, and others.
• Home Purchase Assistance, Housing Rehabilitation Services & Property Tax Financing for Eligible Seniors (65+), support several direct consumer lending programs administered by the Community Development Division (CDD), including the Home Purchase Assistance (Home-Buy the American Dream), Property Tax Financing for Eligible Seniors and Rental Rehabilitation programs. CIP 2025-2030
• Community Facilities Loan Program supports modest-sized capital projects by non-profit partners to meet facility needs that serve or benefit specific neighborhoods or populations in low to moderate-income households. CIP 2025-2030
• South District Station and Property & Evidence Facility, CIP 2025: Site development and design & 2026: Construction
• Police Facility Improvements will be made across all six police districts, expanding between 2025 and 2030 CIP. Three of the six stations serve District 10.
• North-South Bus Rapid Transit project is the CIP from 2025-2030, with a potential combination of funding sources such as Federal, TIF, and GO Borrowing.
• Forgivable loans to regulated providers of early child care services to help them finance capital improvements. Prioritizes projects expected to increase early childcare capacity in under-served parts of the City and for children from lower-income households or who have special healthcare needs.
• Maintenance or repair expenses for the temporary venues created during the pandemic to support people in our community experiencing homelessness, CIP 2025-2028

• Building Improvements for the Senior Center, CIP 2025-2027: located in District 4, but it is a Citywide service

  

A Navigation of the Capital Budget book

Let's start at the beginning! The table of contents is the first page of the combined agency requests file.

Table of Contents:

1. The table is organized by agency groups or categories.
2. Click on the page number to navigate to the page
3. For this guide, I will use the Major Streets budget; click on page 286 to follow along.

Agency Requests Summary:

1. The agency/area is at the top of the page.
2. A summary of all the projects for the agency is listed by Project/Program Name with the projected amount per CIP year.
3. For Major Streets, "Reconstruction Streets" is one of the projects
4. The second table contains the same total value of the project list but grouped by funding sources and CIP year.
5. The graph compares the 2024 Adopted CIP versus the 2025 Request
6. The graph includes each CIP year.
7. And the graph colors represent the Funding Sources.

Project Details:

After the summary, a letter from each agency to the Finance Director contains details about the projects. The following few pages provide more information about the projects.

1. Agency Name
2. Project names and additional details

Project Budget Proposal:

1. At the top of the page, the agency and project information is listed (project name, type, new/existing, etc.)
2. A list of budget sources is listed
3. Grouping of expenses

Project Information:

We made it to the regional level. Some projects are specific to an address, and others are citywide. When I start looking at the budget, I start from here; I look at all the tables under each project to locate anything related to District 10 or anything of interest. Then, I work my way through the details of each project.

1. The list contains an entry for each CIP year.
2. The project name is listed
3. The Cost for each CIP year is included. Projects expected to start in 2025 are listed under the 2025 CIP.
4. The location may consist of a street name or address if applicable.
5. Alder districts are included when applicable; citywide projects may be of interest to you.