MADISON, Wis. — Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway unveiled her newest capital budget on Tuesday, with a heavy emphasis on affordable housing and infrastructure.
The 2023 Executive Capital Budget also features investments in homeless shelters, flood mitigation and public transit. That includes $21 million to rebuild John Nolen Drive.
“Infrastructure investments are not just about bricks and mortar, they are a reflection of our values,” Rhodes-Conway said. “This budget puts our money where our values are.”
The mayor said repairing John Nolen was crucial for preventing future problems.
Rhodes-Conway’s budget increases funding for affordable housing in the city to $60 million over six years and sets aside $19 million over six years to help people purchase and repair homes. The budget would give property tax relief to seniors and provide homeowners with down payment assistance.
“The city needs to focus our funding,” she said, “so that those who work in Madison can afford to live in Madison.”
Madison, with help from the county and federal government, is set to build a $21 million men’s homeless shelter on Bartillon Drive. Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced additional funding for the project last week, which is set to begin construction in 2024.
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The city is looking to use $2.5 million to buy the Salvation Army site in the Darbo-Worthington area. The purchase would allow for a new women’s shelter to be built and would support new community facilities in the area.
“No longer will we be crowding our homeless into church basements and hoping for the best,” Rhodes-Conway said.
The mayor indicated that fighting the effects of climate change will be a key priority for the city moving forward. The budget sets aside $22.2 million for flood mitigation, $15 million to improve stormwater quality and $23 million to transform the 46-vehicle Bus Rapid Transit fleet to be fully electric.
“The climate crisis is no longer on some future horizon line,” she said. “The climate crisis is here.”
The budget also invests $2.5 million in electric vehicle charging stations, $1.7 million to add an inter-city bus terminal to the State Street Campus Garage and $350,000 to help the plan how to bring Amtrak service to Madison.
Rhodes-Conway said that the budget also targets specific neighborhoods based on need. That includes $15 million to build the Madison Public Library’s Imagination center in the Sandberg area, $5 million to expand the Warner Park Community Center and improvements to stormwater systems that are meant to stop basement flooding in the Hammersley-Theresa area.
The budget also includes $6 million in land banking funds meant to fight gentrification.
The new budget will now be presented to the Common Council, who will decide what changes, if any, need to be made.
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