So, last Thursday afternoon the Common Council office was given 7 CDs the were provided so the the 20 alders could “check out”. These CDs contained the Operating Budget Department Requests that met the Mayor’s 3% cut (except police and fire) budget. These CDs were provided upon my request. Yesterday, I was able to pick up the Capital Budget requests, again only provided after I inquired about it.
Las night, the Mayor held a public hearing on the budget. However, the average Madison citizen has no idea what the department proposals for next year might include or not include, so its hard to give feedback. Heck, most council members haven’t seen the information. I took some time to make this information available to the public via Dane101.com. If you are interested in seeing the department requests meeting the 3% cut (except police and fire), the “supplemental” requests by the departments, including police and fire and then the capital budget requests, you can fine the files at Dane101.com.
The question here is, why is an alder posting this public information on a blog site? Why doesn’t the City make this information available to the public? How is the public expected to comment on something that they can’t find information about?
The process for the budget and previous budgets can be found here. Now you have some time to review the information if you have a particular interest. If you see something you like or don’t like you can give input to the mayor at mayor@cityofmadison.com or the council at allalders@cityofmadison.com. The mayor is also having his “Build your own Budget” meetings in the first two weeks of September and you may want to give your input there.
* Sept. 7, 6:30 pm: “Build Your Own Budget” workshop, Alicia Ashman Library, 733 N. High Point Road
* Sept. 13, 6:30 pm: “Build Your Own Budget” workshop, East District Police Station, 809 S. Thompson Drive
* Sept. 14, 7:00 pm: “Build Your Own Budget” workshop, South Madison Health and Family Center (Harambee), 2202 South Park Street
While this mayor has added the Mayor’s hearing and the “Build Your Own Budget” sessions, it is clear that this process needs improvement. And it is even clearer that we need better information. However, while we try to figure out how to improve this process, I will continue to try to keep people informed here and at Dane101.com.
