The City of Madison Finance Committee adopted the 2026 executive operating budget on Oct. 27 after voting through a package of amendments that added or adjusted programs across departments while preserving a small margin under the state's Expenditure Restraint Incentive Program (ERIP). The committee recorded a final vote to send the executive budget as amended to the Common Council.

The committee and staff emphasized that the city must stay below an ERIP spending threshold or risk losing a multiyear state aid payment; staff recommended leaving $200,000 of room to avoid imperiling that aid. Finance staff said the executive budget left roughly $418,000 of ERIP room initially and that the approved amendments reduced but did not eliminate the cushion.

Key changes approved by the committee included increasing three part-time community connector positions to 0.8 FTE each to expand outreach to Spanish-, Hmong- and Chinese-speaking residents; boosting the city's contribution to the Double Dollars food-access match program; adding one Surveyor 2 position in Engineering (with a delayed hire to reduce the 2026 budget impact); creating a parks programming coordinator to support year-round activation and Goodman Pool safety strategies; and accepting public-health budget adjustments tied to county budget decisions that redirect savings toward city-only priorities such as violence prevention.

Committee members debated and voted on a separate proposal to increase the Office of the Independent Monitor (OIM) data‑analyst position from 0.6 to 0.8 FTE. Supporters noted the analyst's role in producing critical OIM reports; the amendment failed on a recorded vote.

A contentious discussion centered on $50,000 in downtown programming funds historically routed to the Madison Central Business Improvement District (BID). Alder Madison proposed a requirement that those funds be allocated through a competitive RFP process; committee members and public speakers debated the tradeoffs of a city-run RFP, staff time required, the BID's quasi-government status, and the potential impact on summer programming. The committee adopted a compromise: the BID will receive funding for 2026 to avoid a disruption to planned programming, and the Economic Development Division (EDD) was directed to develop and run a competitive RFP process for downtown programming to be implemented in 2027. The committee also added a modest $6,000 to the BID's 2026 appropriation.

Staff and committee members said the adopted amendments have ongoing annual costs that will need to be covered in future budgets as partial-year positions are annualized. Finance staff noted several mitigation tools remain available for unforeseen needs in 2026, including a contingent reserve and agency underspending.

Votes at a glance
- Adopt 2026 executive operating budget as amended: approved by the Finance Committee and forwarded to Common Council.
- Amendment 1 (Community connectors: raise three 0.6 FTE to 0.8 FTE): passed (unanimous recorded). Sponsor: Alder Figueroa Cole.
- Amendment 2 (Double Dollars food-access funding increase to $75,000): passed (unanimous recorded). Sponsor: Alder Evers.
- Amendment 3 (Require competitive RFP for downtown programming): amended and passed. Committee directed EDD to develop an RFP for implementation in 2027 and provided interim BID funding for 2026; sponsor: Alder Madison; committee adopted President Vittiver's compromise to delay RFP implementation until 2027.
- Amendment 4 (Increase BID contribution): tabled, removed from the table and amended; final action added $6,000 to BID funding for 2026 and tied to RFP action for 2027; sponsor: Alder Revere.
- Amendment 5 (Engineering Surveyor 2 position with delayed start): passed as amended (committee approved a four-pay-period delay to reduce 2026 impact); sponsor: Alder Revere.
- Amendment 6 (OIM data analyst increase 0.6 -> 0.8 FTE): defeated on recorded vote; sponsor: Alder Matthews.
- Amendment 7 (Parks programming/coordinator position to support Goodman Pool and neighborhood activation): passed (unanimous recorded); sponsors: Alder Madison and Alder Evers.
- Amendment 8 (Public health adjustments per county budget, added city priorities): passed (unanimous recorded); sponsor: Alder Figueroa Cole.

Why it matters
The committee's actions reallocate modest sums to public-safety prevention, community outreach and food-access programs while keeping the city's ERIP eligibility intact. Several of the adopted amendments are partially phased-in in 2026 and will have larger ongoing budget implications in 2027. The BID/RFP compromise signals the council's intent to move toward a competitive process for downtown programming while avoiding immediate disruption to calendar-year events.

What's next
The Common Council will review the Finance Committee's amended executive operating budget in its upcoming meetings. Staff will prepare the RFP framework on downtown programming for implementation in 2027 per the committee's direction.