Bill comes due for free-spending Madison!

Vince Lombardi, witnessing a lackluster football practice, barked, “What the hell is going on out there?!” Saddled with the expansion New York Mets, the ol’ perfesser, Casey Stengel, complained, “Can’t anybody here play this game?” Both giants of sports would keel over in apoplexy if they were coaching Madison politics. No, strike that, they’d never let us get to this sorry place. 

As former mayor Paul Soglin has long warned, the City of Madison is staring at a $27 million deficit — the equivalent of laying off 270 city workers — about one-tenth of the entire payroll. (You will be tested on Dean Mosiman’s excellent report.)

Expect the City to ask voters if it can dig deeper into our pockets because it has not the self-discipline to cut expenses. If it wanted to avoid raising property taxes, the City could zero out the $509,000 Police Civilian Review Board and its overpaid director.  The Maytag repairman has more business. Any reason why the City needs its own, duplicative $2.7 million Civil Rights bureaucracy (state and federal governments already oversee this). How about selling off the last 18 holes of Yahara Hills golf course?

Blame $47.2 million in one-time Joe Biden/Mark Pocan Covid money (the American Rescue Plan) from which it spent $700,000 on illegal (“undocumented”) aliens, among other things and $400,000 to support the Public Market Foundation, and (most egregiously) to backfill continuing City operating costs. On top of throwing another $1.6 million in construction costs at the afore-mentioned $23.6 million Madison public food market — a project that fairly screams “BOONDOGGLE!” One reason that 16.4% of the budget is consumed by debt service. And you thought 7% interest on your mortgage was outrageous.

Profligate with other peoples’ money? A majority of alders voted to increase their own paychecks by 60% earlier this year but failed (by one vote) to achieve the super-majority needed.

Thank gawd for global warming!

Mayor Satya decided Madison needed bus rapid transit to the tune of $50 million in local money. It leveraged millions of dollars into the Housing First fad before declaring Rethke Terrace and Tree Lane a public nuisance. (Gaza is asking for a cease fire at the two crime-ridden projects.) The City is still at it — offering low-cost loans for “affordable housing” — even waiving the $75 application fee. How about the City get out of the housing business altogether until it can clear the streets of snow?

At that, Mayor Satya ought to thank her lucky rabbits foot (remember those?) that global climate change is keeping February unusually toasty. Someone tell the Madison public schools we need more global warming, not less. The school district is planning to hit up taxpayers for $1 billion — one Billion with a capital B dollars — in referenda over the next 20 years to go carbon neutral. 

MMSD can’t teach or keep young Javon safe but it’s going to replace that Swedish girl’s perpetual scowl with a Mona Lisa smile.

Blaska’s Bottom Line: What local government needs is an independent budgetary watchdog — something like the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. (Where are the Frautschis and the Evjue Foundation when you really need them?) Meanwhile, the Republican state legislature is once again trying to give us a break on our income taxes — Gov. Evers having once before vetoed.

Is it churlish to note that Evers, the city of Madison and its schools
are governed by progressive Democrats?