According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Madison City Council members are proposing modest changes to Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s $266.5 million proposed 2024 capital budget. Sixteen amendments were proposed and will be considered on Tuesday by the city’s Finance Committee. No major new initiatives were introduced.
Major council amendments include:
- The addition of $3.2 million in tax incremental financing (TIF) district-supported borrowing due to construction bids received for site and stormwater work and a parking ramp for a now $22.2 million redevelopment at the Village on Park mall on the city’s south side;
- The addition of $250,000 in general fund-supported borrowing in 2024 and 2025 for an experimental forgivable loan program to help fund capital expenses for the acquisition, development, improvement, or expansion of spaces used to provide early child care services;
- An added $1 million in borrowing in 2024 and each year of the nonbinding, five-year Capital Improvement Plan for a loan program for small capital projects proposed by nonprofits;
- Another $800,000 in TIF-supported borrowing in 2024 for additional design services for the John Nolen Drive reconstruction project to extend a new multiuse path along North Shore Drive; and
- The addition of $1 million in TIF-supported borrowing in 2024 and $4 million in general fund borrowing in 2027 for design and construction of a new pedestrian and bicycle underpass on John Nolen Drive near North Shore Drive and Broom Street.
In total, the council proposals would add $6.77 million in borrowing and $25,000 from other sources, increasing the capital budget to $273.3 million. Rhodes-Conway will introduce the 2024 operating budget on Oct. 3, with Finance Committee consideration and amendments that month and City Council adoption the week of Nov. 13.
