In the midst of what Madison officials are characterizing as a particularly tough budgetary year, the city could receive around $28,000 less than originally requested as reimbursement for police costs incurred during the protests at the Capitol.
According to an email from Nicholas Zavos which was sent to Madison alders, the governmental relations officer for Mayor Paul Soglin, the city originally made a claim for $740,865 in reimbursements, but the Department of Administration budgeted for $712,833 instead – a difference amounting to $28,032.
Zavos said while the discrepancy will likely result in reviews between state and city officials, it remains unlikely the DOA officials will change their bid.
“It is probably safe to assume that we are in for another round of heated rhetoric and calls for Madison not to be paid,” he said.
According to Zavos, the DOA submitted their request to the Joint Finance Committee on Friday.
He also said in the email following this submission, a 14-day “passive” review will occur, in which city officials will weigh the proposal, and if JFC decides not to object to any part of the claim, the funds for reimbursement will be approved on Nov. 4.
He said he believes there remains a substantial chance the committee will object to the city’s claim.
Once an objection is filed, the committee must convene to assess its next actions, a meeting Zavos said in the email will likely not occur until some time in December.
Zavos also noted the majority of the disparity in the claims came from expenses incurred by Madison Metro.
Soglin said the entire sum requested by the city was directly related to the protests surrounding the budget repair bill that consumed the downtown area in February.
He added the city will not take any action regarding the bid from DOA until further information is received.
“The final decision will be made both on what will be paid and what will not be paid sometime in early November,” Soglin said. “We’re not going to do anything with this until we see the final recommendation.”
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, expressed optimism about the reimbursement request despite the figure coming in lower than originally expected.
The fact the city will be getting reimbursed at all was significant, he said.
Verveer, who serves on the Board of Estimates, also said it would not prove worthwhile to protest the difference with the state.
“In the grand scheme of things we should be pleased that we most likely will be getting the vast majority of our costs reimbursed,” he said. “Our primary concern was that we be reimbursed for the substantial police overtime cost that we incurred during the demonstrations this year.”
In contrast to Zavos, Verveer said he believes JFC would not object to the reimbursement requests and that the committee would be understanding concerning the additional expenses Wisconsin taxpayers would have to make up.
Ald. Lauren Cnare, District 3, a member of the Board of Estimates, said the city was justified in its requests and the time had come to “pay back municipalities the most significant costs.”
“We’ve already spent those dollars in security for the state Capitol and for the City of Madison,” Cnare said. “There’s no reason our community should not be reimbursed.”
Since the city already spent the money, a decision to eliminate all funding would leave a significant hole in the budget, she added.
In the original article, it insinuated that Nicholas Zavos sent an email to The Badger Herald with the information provided in the interview, when it should have stated the email was originally sent to Madison alders. Ald. Lauren Cnare, District 3, sent and shared the email with The Badger Herald.
The original article also stated that city and state officials would meet to negotiate, when there will be a review.
The article has been changed to reflect those changes and we regret the errors.
