The Madison Common Council approved Amendments Five and Four of the 2025 operating budget relating to police oversight and older adult services respectively and an additional traffic engineering amendment Tuesday during the first of multiple budget deliberation meetings.
The 2025 Executive Operating Budget, introduced by Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway in October and adopted unanimously by the Common Council Tuesday, is partially funded by a $22 million property tax referendum approved by Madison residents on Nov. 5. The final budget must be approved by the council by Nov 14.
The council passed 15-5 an amendment restoring $127,210 in funding to the Office of the Independent Monitor (OIM) for employee salaries and legal services. Accountability for firing members of the Madison Police Department who engage in misconduct is through a state appointed board, which led the city to create theOIM in 2020 to give more power to local citizens.
Despite having been around for years, the OIM only started accepting complaints last month.
District 8 Ald. MGR Govindarajan told The Daily Cardinal he is “okay” with continued funding to the OIM despite “valid concerns” about its effectiveness.
“That being said, I believe the council should take measures to ensure that the OIM is held accountable to specific goals set by the council,” Govindarajan said.
The Common Council also approved by a narrow 11-9 vote a reallocation of $103,870 from the Community Development Division to purchased services for the Older Adult Services Request for Proposal (RFP).
The Older Adult Services RFP handles case management and outreach and referral programs for seniors in the Madison area. During the meeting, District 17 Ald. Sabrina V. Madison had concerns on the amendment’s impact on seniors from marginalized communities.
Most of the services seniors receive in Madison are through nonprofits that have to apply for funding from money that the city sets aside for them, which this amendment seeks to change due to perceived bias, Govindarajan said.
“The city is now debating on deprioritizing what we want to fund,” Govindarajan said. “We’ve historically funded lots of senior services that have benefited older seniors who tend to be more established and resourced, but we haven’t funded nonprofits that help BIPOC/queer seniors.”
Black residents in Madison’s South Side have previously told the Cap Times they have not received senior support services from nonprofits like NewBridge in the past as organizations tighten who gets access to resources and programs around the city.
Alders also unanimously adopted a $6.3 million amendment to the capital budget for Traffic Engineering during the meeting.
The amendment would allow for Traffic Engineering to accept federal funds for safety improvements, including real-time communication between first responders and transportation authorities, prioritization of traffic lights for emergency vehicles and allowing the city to increase data collection on traffic incidents to reevaluate how it responds to high-risk situations, Govindarajan told the Cardinal.
“[This amendment] helps us improve our roads and keep our residents safe,” Govindarajan said. “Allowing emergency vehicles to get through faster on our main roads (including Park Street) will be a major improvement.”
Common Council budget deliberations are scheduled to continue through Nov. 14.
