Following months of planning and drafting, Madison’s city council will vote Tuesday to adopt the capital and operating budgets for 2019.
The capital budget — funded mostly by borrowing and grants from the federal and state governments — provides for city projects, improvements and maintenance. The 2019 capital budget proposed by Madison Mayor Paul Soglin totals $203.2 million, though the figure adopted by the council will likely be different.
Nine amendments have been proposed so far, including one that would add $5.7 million for citywide flood mitigation efforts. The original budget did not include much money for flood prevention and cleanup because it was mostly completed before record storms caused many parts of the city to flood in August.
More than $130 million of the capital budget is for reauthorizations of multi-year projects. Included in these funds are $13.2 million for the planned Madison Public Market and $20.5 million for the Judge Doyle Square parking structure.
About $85 million, just over 46 percent of the capital budget, is devoted to transportation funding, mostly for road repairs and improvements. Reconstruction of parts of University Avenue and John Nolen Drive are the biggest transportation projects, costing $24.5 million and $33.15 million, respectively.
The operating budget funds the city’s day-to-day operation, providing salaries for government employees and money for city services. The proposed 2019 operating budget, funded mostly through property taxes, stands at $332 million. This is a 5.5 percent increase from last year’s budget, an increase the city plans to pay off by adding about $72 to the average home’s annual property tax.
Soglin’s proposed operating budget does not add any new major initiatives from the 2018 budget, though it provides some increased funding for police operations.
