Rhodes-Conway says Madison lacks funding because GOP-run Legislature ‘trying to punish us for our politics’

Dem Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the city lags in funding because it has targeted by the GOP-run Legislature.

Rhodes-Conway at a WisPolitics luncheon Tuesday said while the economy and population in Dane County are the fastest-growing in the state, the Legislature is “trying to punish us for our politics.”

“And they end up punishing the entire economy of the state of Wisconsin as a result,” Rhodes-Conway said as she promoted passage of the city’s $22 million referendum on the ballot.

And while Gov. Tony Evers announced a statewide increase in shared revenue last June, the city of Madison recieved the lowest increase per capita of all of Wisconsin’s cities. Rhodes-Conway said the city of Madison is grateful for the money, but the real problem is the property tax levy limit.

“That’s why we’re in this situation, and have been for years,” Rhodes-Conway said. “We have been since Scott Walker’s first budget as governor. Under three different mayoral administrations, the city has done a number of different things to compensate for the lack of ability to raise the levy.”

The city has not yet used a referendum to raise the tax levy.

The referendum would allow voters to decide whether to increase the property tax levy by $22 million each year. Rhodes-Conway introduced the referendum in July at a Common Council meeting, where it was approved 17-2. It would add around $230 annually for the average Madison homeowner of a $457,000 home.

If the referendum fails, city operations would be reduced by $6 million in 2025 and the city would be forced to make severe cuts.

Rhodes-Conway said she is “cautiously optimistic” the referendum will pass.

“Nobody at the city loves the idea of raising property taxes,” Rhodes-Conway said. “Nobody at the city loves the idea of having to cut services. We are put into this situation by the state legislature, and we are dealing with it because we’re forced to. But based on the conversations that I’ve had with folks, I think people understand the dynamics.”

The levy referendum is in addition to two referendums by the Madison Metropolitan School District asking for a total of $607 million. One asks voters to approve $507 million for school renovations, construction of new school buildings and/or adding on to existing buildings. The second is for $100 million to cover operational and maintenance expenses, including educational programming and employee compensation and benefits.

Conway said the school referedums aren’t helping or hurting the operating referendum.

“The school district is in a very similar bind,” Rhodes-Conway said. “They also need a different way of funding education from the state, and I don’t begrudge them going to the ballot.”

Rhodes-Conway said she believes the city of Madison should have local taxing options. She also added that she thinks all municipalities in the state of Wisconsin should have the option to do a local income tax, though she does not expect it ever to happen.

“I think it’s the most progressive way to raise funding,” Rhodes-Conway said. “I don’t think we’re ever going to get that. I think we will be lucky if Madison and perhaps other municipalities will have the option to do a bump up in the sales tax. I think that’s the most likely thing to increase the local options.”

Also during the luncheon, Rhodes-Conway said: 

• While she understands the appeal of voting for a third party candidate, she said this year “the consequences of Donald Trump having a second term are so dire for the future of our democracy and our country that I do not understand how anybody cannot see that danger.”
• She thinks its a “compliment” that former Madison mayor Paul Soglin is lobbying against her, though she said she would never do that to the next mayor. “This is what women leaders deal with every day, right? We are told both that we’re incompetent and that we’re all-powerful and and you really can’t have it both ways,” she said.
• She is voting yes on all three referendums.

Watch the luncheon here.