News and Updates

Members of Comp Groups 18, 43, and 44:

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The MPSEA Board is reaching out to all members of CG 18, 43, and 44 for assistance.

As many of you are already aware, the City faces an estimated $27,000,000 shortfall for the 2025 budget year with increasing budget shortfalls in future years related to the structural deficit. At the March 5, 2024 Common Council meeting, policy makers expressed support for going to voters for a referendum to close this budget gap. MPSEA President Dan Rolfs spoke on behalf of our association (and all City employees) and fielded questions from Council members.  MPSEA also helped coordinate a presentation to Council by the Wisconsin Policy Forum to further illustrate the City’s current situation.

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As a part of the effort to ensure that any budget decisions will not impact City services or lead to staff cuts, MPSEA is looking for both data points and anecdotal evidence pointing to the increased demands upon city staff. The City of Madison is growing by roughly 3,000 people every year, which leads to increased demands upon staff.

We are asking you to help us with this kind of data, specific to your department or division.  It can be something as simple as, “we have 300 more homes from which to pick up trash from each year”, or more complex. We are looking for bullet points or brief anecdotes to fill in this picture.

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We are seeking help from all members!  If you are interested in contributing to this data, please use your personal email and device (NOT A WORK EMAIL/COMPUTER!) and do any of the following - preferably before the end of the day on Monday, March 11:

• Complete a short survey to share your thoughts and experiences with these issues.  SURVEY LINK

• Email us at MadisonPSEA@gmail.com to share your thoughts and experiences with these issues.

Please refer to the links and video times below for additional recent information regarding the City's 2025 budget discussions:

• Recording of 3/5/2024 Common Council Meeting

  • Dan Rolfs’ public comments on behalf of MPSEA begin at the 33:15 mark; he fields questions from Council through 54:45

  • The Wisconsin Policy Forum’s presentation by Jason Stein begins at the 1:22:00 mark and concludes after extensive Q&A with a Council ovation at the 2:19:16 mark

• Wisconsin Policy Forum - Full Presentation Slides

• Wisconsin State Journal Article on the Common Council Meeting

We will continue to post updates and information as it develops, and please reach out to the email above or any MPSEA Board member at any time.  Thank you for all your help and support.

Solidarity,

The MPSEA Board

MPSEA Members,

This year MPSEA will hold our Annual Membership Meeting at two separate times and formats to provide maximum opportunity for our members to attend. The dates, times, and locations (both virtual and in person) are below:

Virtual Meeting:

Date – April 11, 2024

Time – Noon – 1 PM

Location – Virtual (A link will be sent prior to the meeting)

Agenda – Annual Report; Board Elections Update

In Person Meeting with Mayoral Q&A:

Date – April 11, 2024

Time – 5:30 PM 

Location – Great Dane East (876 Jupiter Drive, Madison, WI 53718)

Agenda – Mayoral Q&A, Patrick Marley (Washington Post) and Jason Stein (WI Policy Forum) presentation with an Overview of “How We Got Here”; Annual Report; Board election update

Refreshments – Food and drink provided

It has been a long time since we have met for an in person annual meeting. Given the budget challenges that the City is facing for 2025, this seems like a good time to re-start that tradition. The City is facing extreme financial challenges in 2025, and every year beyond. Come to this meeting to hear from the Mayor and our Board about ways that the City can face this head on, and what you can do to make a difference. 

Please use this survey link to:

1. RSVP to the in-person annual meeting - with FREE FOOD AND A BEER!

2. Ask questions to the MPSEA Board

3. Ask questions to the Mayor for the Q&A session

The survey will close on April 1st.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PW9T7TZ

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Board Elections

As provided for under our bylaws, MPSEA has our annual elections for the Board this spring. If you wish to run for one of the three board seats, please send a one paragraph bio to Dan Rolfs, MPSEA Board President, stating who you are, and why you want to run for the Board by March 15, 2024. Elections will be held in late March. 

If you have any questions you can reach out to any Board member at your convenience.  

Solidarity,

The MPSEA Board

MPSEA Members,

As many of you may be aware, the City of Madison is facing a significant budget gap of $27,000,000 in 2025. The Finance Department has put together a series of informational presentations and emails regarding this budget gap, and the potential solutions to it. To sum up a LOT of information, the City can do a few things:

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1. Make cuts:

   1. ​​This would involve cutting programs and staff. Based upon the Finance Department’s initial estimate, this would involve cutting potentially as many as 270 positions across the City. This represents roughly 10-20% of every City agency. Please note that this estimate does not include any cuts to sworn police or fire positions, due to State mandates. As such, the vast majority of cuts would come from non-sworn positions, including in no small part, Comp Groups 18, 43 and 44.

2. Increase revenue: 

   1. Fees - The City of Madison has the ability to raise certain fees, such as the vehicle registration fee (aka the “wheel tax”), forestry charges, building permits, etc. However, as laid out in the attached informational series as provided by City Finance staff, these options are limited in nature and most likely would only close a portion of the budget gap. 

   2. Property Taxes – The City of Madison, with Common Council approval, can seek to raise the state-imposed levy limits to increase with approval by the voters at a referendum. As outlined in the attachments, this would represent a roughly 10% increase in the City’s portion of the overall property tax bill. This would amount to a roughly $284 increase in the average homeowner’s tax bill on an annual basis. 

This budget deficit has the potential to seriously impact MPSEA members, and members of our fellow Coalition partners in Local 6000, Local 236, and the Madison City Attorney’s Association. The MPSEA Board urges our members to consider taking a few concrete steps:

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• Watch the Common Council presentation and discussion on this matter on Feb 13, 2024. This will provide additional information regarding the various options being considered, as well as offer an overview of the positions of various Council members; 

• Educate yourself on the various options facing the City, and the ramifications of each option; 

• Communicate with elected officials your thoughts on which course of action will allow the City to continue to provide well balanced public services while ensuring that City taxpayers receive the highest quality services.

Additional information can be found on the 2025 Budget Outlook webpage that City Finance has put together, which includes their 4-part informational series and upcoming meetings. If you have any questions, you can reach out to any MPSEA Board member.

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Solidarity,The MPSEA Board

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Outlook for 2025 Budget -- Part 1 -- Budget Foundations

Outlook for 2025 Budget -- Part 2 -- Structural Deficit

Outlook for 2025 Budget -- Part 3 -- Expenditure Strategies

Outlook for 2025 Budget -- Part 4 -- Revenue Options

MPSEA Members,

As many of you are aware, it has been an ongoing goal of MPSEA over the last several years to eliminatepay gaps between our members and sworn MFD / MPD Staff. Efforts in finalizing the City’s 2023 budgetaround this time last year yielded considerable progress towards this goal. Similarly, after coordinatingwith the Mayor on the proposed budget for 2024, we are pleased to share the following wage increaseslooking forward:

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• 1% permanent wage increase in October 2023 (Payroll #24, previously negotiated for this year’s budget)

• 4% permanent wage increase in January 2024 (Payroll TBD)

• 2% permanent wage increase in July 2024 (Payroll TBD)

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Overall, these wage increases will eliminate the aforementioned pay gap by the end of 2024 and alsohelp to address general cost of living concerns amid inflation and other rising expenses that we continueto see.

We would like to thank our partner organizations of Local 6000, Local 236, and the MCAA for theirongoing efforts with us in helping to make this happen. We would also like to thank the Mayor formaking employee wages one of the priorities in the 2024 budget and, looking even further ahead, weappreciate the Mayor’s verbal commitment on working to ensure that pay gaps will not re-emerge in2025 and beyond.

As always, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to reach out to any Board member.

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Solidarity,

The MPSEA Board

MPSEA Members,

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As the City continues to move forward with plans for conducting a compensation study, we wanted to make you aware of additional resources and opportunities to be heard during these early stages of the process:

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• Human Resources has put together a FAQ webpage which touches on many of the same important questions that we have been receiving from membership.

• For additional information and input, employees are invited to register for a listening session which will “be an opportunity to hear more about the process the City is going through, and to give input on long term issues with the City’s compensation plan and how it is managed.”

These options are of course in addition to reaching out to the MPSEA Board at any time; Board members will be participating throughout this process and working with Human Resources to keep members apprised of notable updates as they develop.

Solidarity,

The MPSEA Board