Madison officials will use Halloween ticket profits to fund law enforcement and city programs, not bands or sound systems.
According to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, the city will not use any of the money earned to fund State Street entertainment during the event. That announcement directly contradicts previous statements made by student leaders concerning the cover charge.
""A lot of the community, especially those who do not come down to State Street on Halloween, have a hard time accepting the idea that we're spending $600,000 to police this event,"" Cieslewicz spokesperson George Twigg said.
In previous years, the $600,000 burden of enforcing Halloween on State Street has fallen on Madison taxpayers. Ald. Paul Skidmore, District 9, has been vocal in his opposition to taxpayer funding for Halloween.
The city's plan to charge admission to the event was met with opposition almost immediately after its July introduction. At a September planning meeting, most students present complained that the city has no right to charge admission to a public street. In addition, many criticized the city for refusing to officially sponsor or recognize the event while at the same time giving it a price tag.
Still, UW-Madison senior Jon Oelke said the ticketing policy makes sense, given Halloween problems in recent years.
""The taxpayers were probably sick of having the burden of paying for stuff students did,"" he said. ""Now they're putting the burden back on the students. If the students decide to have a riot, they're going to be accountable.""
Other profits from ticketing will fund new and existing programs in the Madison community.
""We have a very tight budget situation here and every dollar can really go a long way,"" Twigg said. ""There's a lot of real needs in this community that these resources can be going toward.""
Twigg said the city hopes to raise $200,000 in funding for programs such as a new childcare proposal supported by the Mayor.
UW-Madison senior Andrew John Sass did not object to spending on social programs, but said putting money toward increased law enforcement is a waste of city dollars.
""If this is going toward cops but not as many people are going to be on State Street, it seems sort of counterintuitive,"" Sass said. ""I mean, more cops for less people, it just doesn't make any sense.""
