Budget Meeting Recap
On November 9, 2021, council convened for the annual budget meeting. We held a public hearing followed by votes on budget amendments and then a final vote to adopt the amended budget.
The outcome of the meeting was good. We ended with a better budget than we started with. It was a tough meeting, with many amendments I cared about failing on a 4-4 tie with a mayoral tiebreaker vote. And several items did not pass until reconsideration of at the end of the night, because we exceeded levy limits and had to revisit a selection of amendments.
The two most important sustainability amendments passed. As a result, 2022 will be a year where:
We start building a Sustainability and Climate Change Resiliency Plan
Our Urban Forester will have 33% more time per week to manage our city forest and natural areas.
The sustainability plan, in particular, will be transformational for the city. If you want to know why, please watch my initial pitch for the amendment. At this point in the meeting, even if it passed, it would not be part of the final budget because the budget offset I provided (Amendment #4) to pay for it failed on a 4-4 tie. But fortunately, #4 passed later in the night on reconsideration, thus allowing the sustainability plan to move forward.
Many of Alder Arata-Fratta’s amendments, which I fully supported, also passed. These changes will bring promotions for three firefighters to lieutenant, more pay for on-call firefighters, a hearing conservation program, and a water fountain for the Inclusive Playground.
Several amendments that I wish we could have passed failed, including #13 Add Funding for Tree Plantings, #16 Add Funding for Native Plantings in Fitchburg Parks and #17 Add Funding to Pilot Sustainable Vegetation in Street Medians. I plan to bring these forward for funding in 2022; there will be two opportunities to fund one-time projects next year using federal funds through the American Rescue Plan Act and a forthcoming Tax Incremental District closure. You can look forward to even more progress on sustainability next year.
You can watch my closing statement on the budget meeting here.
If you want to know exactly how the meeting went down, see below for the results for each amendment. Several amendments passed on reconsideration at the end of the night, so you’ll need to scroll all the way to the bottom to see the final final results.
BUDGET AMENDMENT RESULTS
Read the full amendment document.
Read minutes of budget meeting.
FIRST ROUND VOTES
This is a summary of the first round of considerations. Several of these items failed on the first vote but passed on reconsideration, continue scrolling to see the results of the reconsideration votes.
WITHDRAWN
Reduce Fire Fleet Vehicle Replacement Fund CIP #2299 (Arata-Fratta)
FAILED 4-4, Mayor no
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, MaldonadoVotes against: Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Mayor voted no to break tie vote
Remove Vehicle Use Reimbursement in Certain Departments (Gerhardt)
PASSED 5-3
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Herbst, MaldonadoVotes against: Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Delay South Stoner Prairie Neighborhood Planning (Gerhardt)
FAILED 4-4, Mayor no
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado
Votes against: Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Mayor voted no to break tie vote
WITHDRAWN
Reduce Levy Limit Adjustment Strategy Earmarked for Future Capital (Arata-Fratta)
FAILED 4-4, Mayor noVotes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado
Votes against: Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Mayor voted no to break tie vote
Include documentation with Police Small Equipment Replacement Fund in future budget documents (Gerhardt)
PASSED 8-0
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Herbst, Maldonado, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Votes against: None
Add One Additional Daytime Career Firefighter (Arata-Fratta)
FAILED 4-4, Mayor no
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado
Votes against: Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Mayor voted no to break tie vote
Increase Urban Forester/Naturalist Position from .6 FTE to 1.0 FTE (Gerhardt)
FAILED 4-4, Mayor no
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado
Votes against: Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Mayor voted no to break tie vote
Add Funding for Sustainability Planning (Gerhardt)
PASSED 7-1
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado, Strassman, Udell, WheelerVotes against: Herbst
Increase Urban Forester/Naturalist Position from .6 FTE to .8 FTE (Arata-Fratta)
FAILED 4-4, Mayor no
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado
Votes against: Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Mayor voted no to break tie vote
Add Reclassification of Three Full-Time Firefighters to Lieutenants (Arata-Fratta)
FAILED 4-4, Mayor no
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado
Votes against: Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Mayor voted no to break tie vote
Add Funding for Tree Plantings (Gerhardt)
FAILED 3-5
Votes for: Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado
Votes against: Allen, Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Increase Paid-on-Premise / Paid-on-Call Firefighter Starting Wage (Arata-Fratta)
PASSED 8-0
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Herbst, Maldonado, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Votes against: None
Add Two Speed Feedback Boards at Seminole Highway/Schumann Drive (Udell)
PASSED 8-0
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Herbst, Maldonado, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Votes against: None
Add Funding for Native Plantings in Fitchburg Parks (Gerhardt)
WITHDRAWN
Add Funding to Pilot Sustainable Vegetation in Street Medians (Gerhardt)
FAILED 4-4, Mayor no
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado
Votes against: Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Mayor voted no to break tie vote
Add Hearing Conservation Program (Arata-Fratta)
PASSED 8-0
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Herbst, Maldonado, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Votes against: None
Add Water Fountain at McKee Farms Park Inclusive Playground (Arata-Fratta)
PASSED 8-0
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Herbst, Maldonado, Strassman, Udell, WheelerVotes against: None
WITHDRAWN
WITHDRAWN
WITHDRAWN
WITHDRAWN
WITHDRAWN
WITHDRAWN
SECOND ROUND RECONSIDERATION VOTES
After the first round of votes, we exceeded levy limits and we had to revisit amendments. Several amendments were selected by the council to be reconsidered.
Delay South Stoner Prairie Neighborhood Planning (Gerhardt)
PASSED 6-2
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Herbst, Maldonado, Wheeler
Votes against: Strassman, Udell
Reduce Levy Limit Adjustment Strategy Earmarked for Future Capital (Arata-Fratta)
PASSED AS AMENDED 6-2Motion to Amend to Reduce Dollar amount to $62,489 by Udell, 2nd by Herbst
Votes for: Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Votes against: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado
Mayor voted yes to break tie vote
Roll Call on main Motion as Amended
Votes for: Gerhardt, Herbst, Maldonado, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Votes against: Allen, Arata-Fratta
Add One Additional Daytime Career Firefighter (Arata-Fratta)
FAILED 4-4, Mayor no
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado
Votes against: Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Mayor voted no to break tie vote
Add Funding for Sustainability Planning (Gerhardt)
PASSED 7-1
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado, Strassman, Udell, WheelerVotes against: Herbst
Increase Urban Forester/Naturalist Position from .6 FTE to .8 FTE (Arata-Fratta)
PASSED 4-4, Mayor YES
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado
Votes against: Herbst, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Mayor voted yes to break tie vote
Add Reclassification of Three Full-Time Firefighters to Lieutenants (Arata-Fratta)
PASSED 7-1
Votes for: Allen, Arata-Fratta, Gerhardt, Maldonado, Strassman, Udell, Wheeler
Votes against: Herbst