Andrew Statz, fiscal efficiency auditor for the city of Madison, discussed aspects of the bill and said the city is going to see cuts in funding.
In a memo Statz wrote to the BOE regarding the recommendations Doyle made to the state budget bill, Payments for Municipal Services is estimated to receive about $9 million, suffering a loss of $220,000 in annual budget funding.
PMS is money given to local government to provide police, fire and garbage services to state-owned property.
As explained in the memo, some of these budget cuts were caused by an error under the Department of Administration, including a pending underpayment of $185,900 from 2006, investigated by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s office.
There were also overpayments to the cities of Kenosha and Janesville for police services they did not actually provide to local University of Wisconsin campuses.
“These issues reflect the program’s complex inventory of state buildings and entitlement calculations,” Statz wrote in the memo.
The current version of the bill requires Dane County to adopt a resolution to establish a Regional Transit Authority, Statz said at the BOE.
According to the memo, once established, the RTA can instill up to a 0.5 percent sales tax on residents.
These funds will be used to “establish, maintain and operate” subways, motor vehicles, buses, elevated and underground railroads, and any other form of mass transportation.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, member of the BOE who was not present at Monday night’s meeting, said the budget for the city of Madison has been very tight for the past few years.
Any tremendous cut in state aid could put a strain on the city budget, which could result in cutting services and programs or increasing tax on Madison residents to make up for the lost money, he added.
“This budget, just like past budgets, all have significant impacts on city revenue,” Verveer said. “We’re at the mercy of government and legislation for millions of dollars in payments to help run city operations.”
Statz said the bill was sent to the Joint Committee on Finance for review Monday. After the bill goes through the JCF, the Assembly and Senate will vote on it.
Then it would go to the governor to be signed into law.
Money being allocated to the city from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act was also discussed.
The city’s best estimate of the money it will be awarded in the economic stimulus package ranges anywhere from $18 to $25 million, according to Rachel Strauch-Nelson in an e-mail to The Badger Herald.
One of the mayor’s main goals as he considers how to allocate stimulus resources is to not just recover the old economy but instead transform the city’s economy into “something stronger and more durable.”
