What will Fitchburg do with an extra $5.2 million?

Note: You have a chance to weigh in on council proposed amendments that will be voted on Tuesday, March 22 at 7:30pm. Scroll down for a list of amendments and how your can submit feedback.

If you’ve been following council meetings over the last 12 months, and especially the last three, you’ve heard lots of discussion on two big sources of money coming into the city for use on one-time projects (meaning there’s no ongoing annual cost, like staffing for example).

There are two sources of money: $3.2M from ARPA and ~$2M from a TID closure for a total of about $5.2 million

ARPA is the American Rescue Plan Act which federal legislation passed in 2021 in response to the pandemic. The City of Fitchburg is getting $3.2 million directly as a result of this legislation to use on city projects. There are some limitations, but we have far more than $3.2M worth of projects that are possible candidates.

A TID is a tax increment district which is a special tool that municipalities can use to encourage economic development in a particular area. TIDs and TIF (Tax increment finances) is fascinating but complex, so I won’t go into detail on how it works (but I’m happy to chat about it over coffee if you’re interested in learning more). Suffice it to say that we have just completed the process of closing TID #6 (area over by HyVee and Target) and as a result, we have about $2 million in funds left over. To be clear, this is already-collected tax payer money that was collected since 2006 when TID #6 was created. This means there is no restriction on what we can use the money for. A special council meeting earlier this year has lots of detail if you’re interested in learning more.

What are we going to do with the $5.2 million?

In order to decide how to use this money in the best way, we are about to vote on a spending plan. To be clear, this is NOT allocating the money, it’s just a plan of what options we would like staff to look into. The actual allocation of the money will happen during the CIP and Budget processes over the next several years.

Here’s what’s happened so far:

1. Mayor released a proposed spending plan. It’s shorter than you might expect, and it’s easy to skim. Read here.

2. The initial plan was discussed at a finance committee meeting. Watch here.

3. The 4 alders decided to submit 24 amendments to the plan. Read amendments here.

4. We discussed amendments at a recent meeting. Watch here.

Here is what is next:

1. Council votes on each amendment and then adopts the amended spending plan THIS TUESDAY March 22. There is a public hearing at 7:30 pm for citizens that want to speak on any of the amendments.

2. The staff will start researching the options in the spending plan and prioritizing which ones should be done first. (ongoing)

3. Projects will be added to the Capital Improvement Plan this summer during that process. (Summer 2022)

4. Projects will be allocated money in the budget process in fall 2022 for the 2023 operating year. (Fall 2022)

5. Additional projects will be added and allocated in the 2023 and 2024 CIP and Budget processes.

Alder amendments and how to submit feedback

Read the full amendment document online.

This is a list of the amendments:

1. Add new voting machines and election equipment (Gerhardt)

2. Add Senior Center outdoor patio (Herbst)

3. WITHDRAWN

4. Add Kids Crossing replacement at McKee Farms Park (Arata-Fratta)

5. WITHDRAWN

6. Increase inclusive playground funding for benches (Arata-Fratta)

7. Add Tower Hill shelter replacement (Arata-Fratta)

8. Add water fountain at Belmar Park (Arata-Fratta)

9. Add bike parking stalls to major City parks (Maldonado)

10. Add tree replacement for emerald ash borer (EAB) affected trees (Gerhardt)

11. Add update/complete tree inventory (Gerhardt)

12. Add consultant to plan for park and rides (Gerhardt)

13. Add startup funding for municipal tree nursery (Gerhardt) PLAN TO AMMEND ON THE FLOOR TO INSTEAD PILOT COMMUNITY GRAVEL BEDS

14. Add traffic calming in District 1 (Herbst)

15. WITHDRAWN

16. Add funding to upgrade park shelter to solar shelter (Gerhardt)

17. Add funding to add solar panels (Gerhardt)

18. Add funding to update street lighting to LEDs (Gerhardt)

19. Add funding for Hub Phase 1 (Arata-Fratta)

20. Add additional HNI grant funding (Arata-Fratta)

21. Add funding for Little John's Restaurant (Arata-Fratta)

22. Add funding for Fitchburg greenway system (Arata-Fratta)

23. Add funding for workforce accelerator business incubator (Maldonado)

24. Add Senior Center vehicle (Herbst)

Read the full amendment document online.

HOW TO SUBMIT FEEDBACK ON AMENDMENTS

1. Attend the 3/22 council meeting at 7:30 pm and give a 3 minute testimony. Come to city hall (5520 Lacy Road), go to council chambers (end of the hallway on the left), fill out the form (get one at the back of the room), and wait for your turn to speak for 3 minutes. Can’t attend in person? You can attend on video. Email me to get a zoom link.

2. Register support for an amendment. Include the budget number & name, sign with your name and Fitchburg address to Council&Mayor@fitchburgwi.gov. You may include a message to the council about why you support or oppose, but that statement won’t be read aloud at the meeting. You name and which amendments you support WILL be read.

3. Contact your alders by phone or email. Find their contact information here. Lobbying your alders makes a difference!

HOW TO WATCH THE MEETING

1. Watch live at the Fitchburg City website

2. Watch the YouTube video posted the day following the meeting

Support Voting and Sustainability Amendments

As always, I seek to submit amendments that line up with my priorities, which include sustainability, environmental responsibility (like tree canopy management) and equitable access to city services (like voting locations). Please see below for my amendments in these groupings and consider reaching out to council if you support any of these.

Equitable access to voting

• #1 Add new voting machines and election equipment
  More polling locations are necessary, but funding to pay for equipment is a barrier. Most urgent is a second polling place in District 3 (Town of Madison annexation) and District 1 (polling place on either side of Verona Road).

Sustainability

• #17 Add funding to add solar panels
  Solar panels dedicated to powering lifts, wells and pumps were added to the CIP in 2021. This amendment may allow us to use one-time funding to pay for those projects or expand upon the project at Lift Station #1 rather than use utility rates. Alternatively, we might use this to fund an additional solar park shelter or upgrade the new bus shelter included in the spending plan to solar shelters. Additional solar power will yield energy cost savings and help us achieve our greenhouse gas emission goals.

• #16 Add funding to upgrade park shelter to solar shelter
  A solar shelter is a shelter (park, bus, etc.) where the roof is made up entirely of solar panels. The solar panels will generate energy for the city, producing costs savings and helping us achieve our greenhouse gas emission goals. They are also beautiful and a lovely park amenity (see William G. Lunney Lake Farm County Park). This adds funding to upgrade a forthcoming park shelter to a solar shelter (HUB Phase 1, Stoner Prairie Park and Tower Hill Park may be candidates).

• #18 Add funding to update street lighting to LEDs
  Justification from CIP Project #3479: “The city owns approximately 600 100W high pressure sodium street lights, which cost over $4,000/month to operate. Reducing energy consumption (by 50%) yields a savings of approximately $1.50 a month/fixture… Based off of energy savings alone for lamp replacement, payback period is expected to be less than 10 years.” Using one time funding will allow us to reap the cost savings immediately and eliminate the need to finance this through the tax levy.

• #12 Add consultant to plan for park and rides
  As we continue to grow (with two forthcoming neighborhood plans), we must consider transportation options that take single-use vehicles off the road. Park and rides are one option, and three general locations have been identified by WisDOT in their study as high priority candidates to improve regional traffic issues: Verona Road/County PD, Fish Hatchery Road/County PD, and US 14/McCoy Rd/Lacy Rd. This funding will hire a consultant so we can properly plan for this.

Tree Canopy Management

• #10 Add tree replacement for emerald ash borer (EAB) affected trees
  Emerald ash borer (EAB) beetles are killing ash trees throughout the city. We do not currently have enough funding to replace dead ash trees that must be or have been removed, approximately 450 trees. We have been unable to incorporate additional funding into the operating budget for EAB affected trees, and trees cannot be placed in the CIP for debt financing; one time use funding allows us to complete the mitigation of this issue.

• #11 Add update/complete tree inventory
  We do not have a complete or updated tree inventory in Fitchburg, which makes managing the urban forest difficult and requires piecemeal tree inventory for individual projects. Fitchburg has been designated a Tree City USA for decades, but a tree inventory (along with forthcoming tree protection ordinance) will qualify us for the Tree City of World designation. A consultant must be hired.

• #13 Add startup funding for municipal tree nursery (Gerhardt) PLAN TO AMMEND ON THE FLOOR TO INSTEAD PILOT COMMUNITY GRAVEL BEDS
  Fitchburg is large city with an extensive urban forest. Tree nurseries have struggled since the 2008 recession and have never truly recovered, which makes tree procurement (number and species) challenging and expensive. This idea seeks to establish a municipal tree nursery to meet the tree needs for our growing city. Start up costs will be significant, and we will require additional forestry staff, but an investment up front will produce significant savings down the line; it may also generate revenue by allowing us to sell trees to other municipalities. This is a low priority item.
  ***Since the tree nursery is on a longer time horizon, I’m planning to amend this on the floor to instead pilot community gravel beds (see here for a recent discussion at Tree Advisory) which is something we can accomplish in the next 1-3 years. I plan to bring the municipal tree nursery into the CIP later this year.