MADISON, Wis. — Madison residents will see three referendums on their November ballots. Two pertain to school district funding. The other involves city expenses.

What You Need To Know

  • The City of Madison is asking voters to pass an additional $22 million a year in property taxes to cover its budget deficit

  • If voters approve the referendum, the property taxes for the average homeowner in Madison will increase by $230 annually. That’s roughly $50 per every $100,000 of property value

  • Part of the issue is tied to state funding. According to Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s office, the state legislature puts caps on revenue, making it difficult to capture the benefits of Madison’s growing population and keep up with inflation

The City of Madison is asking voters to pass an additional $22 million a year in property taxes to cover its budget deficit.

If voters approve the referendum, the property taxes for the average homeowner in Madison will increase by $230 annually. That’s roughly $50 per every $100,000 of property value.

Madison Public Library Director Tana Elias said library hours and services could be impacted if the referendum fails. Madison’s library system offers a wide variety of programming across its locations, from story times for kids, to cooking and computer classes for adults.

“We will also lose about $329,000 in programming,” Elias said. “That includes two positions who do programming across the system, and also includes about 50% of our program services and supplies budget.”

As Elias and many other people from various city departments advocate for the referendum to pass, there are others who said it’s too much to put on residents.

Former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, former Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney and former Alder Sheri Carter came together Wednesday to urge people to vote "no." They’re part of a group called “Vote No Madison.”

“[Madison residents] should not have reduced services and still pay high property taxes,” Carter said.

Part of the issue is tied to state funding. According to Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s office, the state legislature puts caps on revenue, making it difficult to capture the benefits of Madison’s growing population and keep up with inflation.

Soglin said that’s not the fault of taxpayers.

“There is every reason in the world that we should say 'no' to this referendum and expect our elected representatives to work with the state on some relatively simple solutions that are not extremely costly to the state,” he said.

While opinions are mixed among community leaders, Elias pointed to rising costs that are making it harder to pay for community programs and staff.

“If the referendum doesn't pass, we will start to see pretty significant reductions to those services that Madisonians love,” she said.

Ultimately it’s Madisonians who will get the final say on Nov. 5. 

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