Vaccinate Against Measles On April 26, 2024, Public Health Madison Dane County reported one confirmed case of measles in Dane County. This person was infected during domestic travel, not in Dane County. Measles is a very contagious virus that spreads easily and rapidly through coughing and sneezing. If you are unvaccinated, simply being in the same room with someone who has measles is enough to get infected. Learn more here.
Mayor’s Message Now that winter is behind us, I would like to take a moment to celebrate and highlight the vital work the Streets and Urban Forestry Division does for all Madisonians. Their work for us really blossoms this time of year! The vehicle operators, arborists, and laborers show great dedication to help make Madison a beautiful and clean city. Here’s a quick rundown of just some of what they are doing this spring: The ever popular Streets Division drop-off sites expanded their hours on April 1. These expanded hours will stay in effect until December. The Urban Forestry section’s spring planting will put well over 1,000 trees in terraces throughout all of Madison. Brush collection is underway. Click through to check when it’s coming to your neighborhood! And spring yard waste collection will start in your neighborhood soon, too. They’re filling potholes (so please report them if you find them so crews can fill them quickly). Streets Division sweepers have been circling the city since early March to gather up the accumulated debris on the roads to prevent it from entering the stormwater system and flush out to our lakes. And, of course, many other things like cleaning graffiti from public areas to collecting trash, recycling, and scheduled large items every day. I continue to be impressed by the hard-working people of the Streets & Urban Forestry Division. Day in and day out, their work and commitment provides all of us services we rely on for our homes and our city.
Engage on the Budget The City is facing a significant budget shortfall that will impact services. What City services do you value the most? What is your vision for the future of Madison?Join us to discuss the budget, learn more about the services the City provides, and share your thoughts with elected officials. See upcoming meeting dates and details here.
Free Metro Youth Passes Again this Summer Recently Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Madison Metropolitan School District Interim Superintendent Lisa Kvistad held a press conference to announce Metro’s fourth annual free summer youth pass program for Madison residents. As part of Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s MetroForward initiative, the summer youth pass program provides free rides to students from grades 6 through those just graduating from high school. Distributed in MMSD schools near the end of the school year, passes make it easier for students to get to jobs, athletic camps, the homes of friends, the pool and more. In 2021, there were approximately 38,000 rides taken using the pass, in 2022, there were about 41,00 rides taken. Last summer, more than 138,000 rides were taken on these passes. Complete information is available at mymetrobus.com.
State Street Ped Mall Experiment Begins Once the Pedestrian Mall is opened May 8th, people are encouraged to capture the many made-for-social media sights and sounds using the hashtag #FlockToState and tag musicians performing at the new busking location across from Concrete Park with the hashtag #MadisonIsMusic. A full summer’s worth of programming and performances are being planned for the Pedestrian Mall. Because of the nature of State Street, with many local businesses not having alley or back door access for deliveries, prevents a full closure to traffic so the Pedestrian Mall, stretching from Gorham Street to Hawthorne Court, will be closed to all non-emergency traffic starting at 3 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends and holidays, ending at 4 a.m. every day. Traffic will continue to flow normally on all cross streets even when the pedestrian mall is open, including on Gorham and Gilman Street.
Madisonians from across the City participated on a beautiful Spring Day to support our local artists and begin the first steps of our #FlocktoState experiment this summer by painting inviting murals.
Meet Your New Council Leadership The City of Madison Common Council announced the newly election council leadership as District 10 Alder Yannette Figueroa Cole, who was selected by her peers to serve as the new president, and District 1 Alder John W. Duncan, who was selected as the new vice president. You can learn more about these Alders here.
Property Tax Assessments vs Property Taxes Recently, property tax assessments were mailed to property owners in Madison, so we’re sharing some information about the relationship between assessments, taxes, and the City’s budget.
Assessments of a property are based on what similar properties are selling for – so they are heavily influenced by demand. Generally, if the assessed value of a property increases, the taxes for that property do not increase at the same rate or percentage. Assessments are supposed to be revenue neutral, so an increase in assessment does not necessarily correspond to an increase in taxes. Learn more here.
Body-Worn Camera Pilot has Begun Last summer, the Common Council voted in favor of the 90-day pilot program for officers in Madison’s north district. An independent researcher has been hired to study the program and report his findings to department and city leaders. Learn more here.
3 CARES Teams Serve Our Community CARES 3′ has officially been on duty Monday through Friday, 12:00 PM to 10:00 PM, for a month responding from the old Town of Madison fire station on Fish Hatchery Road. The addition of a third team allows the CARES program to expand its service capacity in response to ongoing demand.
Call data from Dane County Public Safety Communications (911) identified the busiest hours of the day for behavioral health emergencies occur between 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM weekdays. With CARES 3 on duty from 12:00 PM to 10:00 PM weekdays, three CARES teams are now available to respond to calls for service during hours of peak demand.
Since the program’s inception on September 1, 2021, CARES has responded to approximately 5000 calls for service. You can learn more about the service expansion here.
Madison Reaches Solar Milestone The City of Madison is proud to announce that it has reached the significant milestone of 2 megawatts of installed and commissioned solar on its buildings and facilities. This accomplishment creates momentum toward adding more solar installations across the community. It took 13 years for us to reach our first megawatt, and now we have reached our second megawatt in just five years. See the celebratory press event here.
Food Scraps Program Returns to Eastside Market Food scraps recycling drop-off has returned to the Eastside Farmers’ Market. Individuals may drop-off certain allowable food scraps to a designated drop-off booth for free. Learn more details here.
Madison a Tree City for 35 Years Madison’s first year recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA was 1989. We have received the award again this year, making it our 35th year being Tree City USA, and it is the 19th year we have received the Growth Award. Learn more about the award, or see what we do every day to support our trees.
