Micah LaDousa, Fitchburg District 4 Alder Newsletter

Welcome back!

I'm going to devote most of this newsletter to the budget and the budget process, as that is the major thing happening in the city right now. Take a look at the information below and please let me know if you have questions, comments, or suggestions.

The Budget is Here!

Budget Highlights

The Mayor's proposed budget has been posted to the Fitchburg website and can be accessed here: Proposed Budget

This is when we make decisions about staffing, services and investments from fire protection to snow plowing to transit.

Some important items in the year's budget that I want to call out:

On-Call Firefighter Wages: Many people are shocked to find out that the current wage for on-call firefighters is $12, and was $9 as recently as 2024. This budget increases the wage to $15, which is still modest for the work they do for the city, but brings their wages in line with other communities

Enhanced Transit Service: By making Route 65 and 75 all-day service, we open up additional bus service to City Hall, the Senior Center, and the Library, but extremely important is that this also opens up Paratransit service to the Senior Center for much of the city. The Senior Center has struggled with transportation challenges for years, and this will hopefully address some of those longstanding issues.

Increase Paid Parental Leave: Parental Leave was increased an additional week to three weeks, and I hope we can increase that even further in future years. In addition, we had significant increases in insurance rates for our city staff, but we were able to absorb those costs and keep benefits at the same level for city staff.

Dive Deeper: If you have time, I'd encourage you to watch the Mayor's presentation from the Finance Committee meeting, explaining her budget priorities and some of the numbers

Budget Process

The budget schedule can also be found on the same site, but here are some important dates:

• Tuesday, October 14: Budget Public Hearing during Council

• Thursday, October 16: Deadline for me to submit budget amendments

• Friday, October 24: Proposed budget amendments posted to city website

• Tuesday, November 11: Public hearing and votes on amendments and the final budget

Amendments: If you have feedback on a specific item in the budget, or want to speak about a potential amendment, please reach out to me this week and we can discuss.

General Budget Questions: Please also reach out if you have any questions about the budget overall, the process, or how the city spends its money.

The budget is a huge document (500+ pages) and I don't expect everyone to read the entire thing and provide me with feedback. But I am more than happy to converse via email or phone, or schedule a time to meet for coffee with anyone from the district who wants to know more about the process or the city's finances.

Technical Highlights

If you want to get into the numbers with me, here we go:

The total levy increase for the operational (year to year) budget is 2.6%. In addition, to provide some historical context for our city property taxes:

• From 2022-2026, city taxes on an average home went from $2617 to $2737. That is an increase of 4.6% total over 4 years.

• During the same time period, overall inflation was around 15%

The city is affected by inflationary costs just like its residents, as we pay for things like asphalt, fire trucks, health insurance, and plowing equipment.

This image from the budget provides some good context around where the new revenue is going, as well as where the vehicle registration fee revenue is being allocated.

Structural Deficits: If you watch any of the budget process, you will inevitably hear about "structural deficits." This is when a city takes a one-time source of money, like a grant or project savings, and spends it on an ongoing cost, like staff or programs.

Think of it like a household that has saved $30,000 to buy a car, but doesn't take into account the cost of insurance, gas, and repairs. The car payment might be covered, but the ongoing costs are not. The gap between the two is the structural deficit.

Our city finance department works extremely hard to prevent us from doing this, and carefully allocates one-time and recurring costs. This is a major reason Fitchburg maintains a Aaa bond rating, the highest possible.

However, this can create confusion when residents hear we don't have the revenue to hire more police officers or firefighters, but we have funding for park and road projects. The reason is that those one-time funds can't be used for ongoing costs like salaries, or we would create a structural deficit.

To sum up, it's about matching revenue to expenses:

• One-time revenues (grants, project savings) > one-time costs (park improvements, roads)

• Recurring revenues (property taxes, state aid) > recurring costs (salaries, benefits, programs)

Council Happenings

Greenfield and South Stoner Prairie Neighborhood Plans

The council passed both the Greenfield and South Stoner Prairie neighborhood plans. I am excited to see how the South Stoner Prairie neighborhood develops over the coming years, depending on how the operation at the current quarries continue.

I want to acknowledge the opposition to the Greenfield plan that came from the residents of the neighborhood, many of who I have spoken or met with over the past few months. I understand the desire to not have development creeping ever closer to your homes.

At the same time, I see this plan as a way to give residents more certainty and leverage in shaping the future of the neighborhood. I was very concerned about the prospect of having no plan. Without a plan, any future development proposal would be evaluated individually, without guidelines or expectations, by whoever happens to be on council at the time it comes forward. By putting a plan in place, we can provide some structure and relieve some of the uncertainty around what might happen in the future.

If and when a development proposal comes forward, I hope the neighborhood stays as engaged as it has been already. I'll make sure you are informed early, and I'll work with you to help move forward a project that benefits both current and future residents.

You can view my comments at council on the plan here.

You can view the entire discussion here.

Gigi's Playhouse

The city is excited to have Gigi's Playhouse coming to Fitchburg with the approval of a new 8,000 square foot building on Botanical Drive near Lacy and Syene Rd. Gigi's is a Down Syndrome achievement center, currently located in Monona. The new facility will nearly double their size, and includes tutoring and sensory rooms, kitchen and laundry spaces, a half-court gymnasium, along with offices and multi-purpose space. The site can support future expansion if needed, and we welcome them to Fitchburg. You can learn more about the organization and their progress toward opening here.

Stay in Touch

One small item to note from Finance Committee. The city recently had to pay a small amount of extra money to add additional subscribers to our texting services. This means that more people have recently signed up for the NotifyMe service referenced below. I am delighted to have to spend a small amount of extra money if it keeps people informed about what is happening around the city.

This is my favorite time of year, and whether you like apple picking or spooky season or the baseball playoffs, I hope you have a wonderful October. If you have kids, trick or treating hours are 4-7pm, and I hope your kids get all the candy they desire.

Below are some important sources I encourage you to access.

Youtube: Subscribe to the FACTv Youtube Channel. I highly recommend the Council Recaps, City Administrator Updates, and Talking Fitchburg videos. These are concise updates that give you the information you need.

NotifyMe: This is the city's text/email notification platform. I want to call out the library and senior center who have some great newsletters. Subscribe here.

Facebook: Start by following the City of Fitchburg, and then follow me. We can talk about additional pages in the future.

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