I'm watching the city's PR campaign urging us to approve the operational referendum to permanently increase our property taxes by a significant amount--$713/year on the median average home of $435K on November 5th. That results in a $59.42/month increase with more increases likely to come next year due to increasing property tax assessments. I'm finding myself with many questions like what hard decisions have been enacted before coming to the public well with a request for a huge tax increase? So let's break it down.
Every organization must live within their financial means and that often requires making hard decisions. Of course city leaders can point blame at levy limits, inflation, a Republican controlled legislature, but that doesn't change the fact that organizations must operate within those constraints. Limited funding has been a city struggle for years but city leaders have moved forward with continuing to create infrastructure with no plans to support it. Lack of planning is what has gotten us here.
The $3 million in operational funds will be used to:
Fund overtime pay
Address increased operating costs like expenses for garbage and recycling collection
Implement the city's 2024 compensation plan to retain and recruit employees.
(source: City of Monona Referendum Marketing flier #1)
Some of my concerns include what happens when this $3M is spent? This is an operational referendum which means that these operating costs will continue to need to be funded long-term. How does the city plan to continue to fund these operations? Will we see another referendum in three years when these funds are depleted? What long-term strategies are in place to help fund operations?
Other concerns come from my time as an alder in Monona. The lack of financial transparency was alarming. Alders were never provided with a financial report in our city council packets. We rarely discussed the city's finances and were expected to make critical decisions with little to no understanding of the bigger financial picture. The city's finance and personnel committee is the smallest of the city's committees and until recently, only met for a half hour to approve the bills. There were few, if any, conversations about the financial challenges that existed. They've now increased the time of the meeting to an hour but it's not nearly enough. My board of directors at my nonprofit spends more time discussing finances than the city does and we have an annual budget of $250K. I brought this up repeatedly only to be shunned because diversity of thought is not welcomed on the city council.
The city has not hired a financial advisor to help us develop strategies to avert a financial crisis. I've been talking about this for years because I've seen other cities do this when they were facing financial challenges like Cottage Grove and Fitchburg. If you compare a Fitchburg city council agenda to a Monona city council agenda, you'll see numerous standing items on the Fitchburg agenda where the council discusses the city's finances. Monona has none. Aren't the finances a priority? This is an example of the lack of planning that's gotten us here.
Throwing more money at this problem is not a real solution. It could be a band-aid but it's not a cure. The structural issues must be resolved. The fact that city employees are paid less than their peers is also not new news. This has been the case for a long time. I hope we can all agree on the point that the staff deserve to be paid fairly. They also deserve to be valued and appreciated. The number one reason for staff turnover is lack of appreciation. There is a culture problem at city hall that needs to change. The staff is caught in the fray of the lack of planning by elected officials that has resulted in not having enough funds to operate the city. At a September city council meeting, when Clifton Larson Allen LLP, the company hired to conduct the city's audit provided their report, the mayor stated, "Good to know that things are in good shape." (paraphrased) She wasn't panicking about the lack of funds to operate the city then.
The audit letter sent to the city on September 3rd, 2024 is something everyone should read. They are ringing the alarm bells and those warning bells should raise eyebrows. YOU CAN READ IT HERE.
They state that only one individual logs journal entries without supporting documentation or review. They recommend that, "the City develop a policy for processing journal entries that includes 1) adequate explanation and documentation and 2) if practical, documentation of review of all journal entries prior to posting in the City's general ledger." This is risky folks. What they're saying is that there is a lack of internal financial controls.
If this reminds you of how the school district lost $7 million because they eliminated their finance committee, a layer of governance to review financials, it should. Because the school district is an example of what could happen with sloppy financial controls. I'm certainly not accusing anyone of wrongdoing, but one of the roles of the city council is to set policies to ensure that internal controls are in place to prevent mistakes or opportunities for wrongdoing. This needs to happen before the referendum. The second page of the audit lays out a road map of the steps that must be taken prior to the referendum.
Below are some of the reasons I believe this referendum is premature.
Implement the recommended steps provided in the audit report. The city needs to devise a policy for better internal financial controls. They need to hire a financial advisor to help chart a path to sustainability. They also need to help city officials understand how to make sound decisions when creating new infrastructure. We need to see detailed operating budgets for things like the ice skating rink at Grand Crossing, San Damiano, and city festivals. What is losing money, what is resulting in net revenue when all the expenses are taken into consideration. Breaking even is not good enough in today's climate. Even as an alder, I've never seen operating budgets for any of these items. The public has never been told what happened to the $844K in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds we received when I was an alder. Provide us with financial transparency to develop a relationship of trust and increase our confidence in the city's financial management before going to referendum.
Inefficient use of city property. Review the value of vacant city property and develop a plan to sell it for much-needed housing. When I see the vacant city lot across from Schluter Beach that is regularly mowed and maintained, it's just one area where the city is losing funds. The city should acquire an appraisal for that site, develop an RFP (request for proposal) for developers to create some missing middle housing. Cottage condos with a corner market store would be an excellent choice for that site.
Do strategic planning around Monona's debt and renegotiate the terms immediately. The city has $3,283,064 in debt and pays $932,962 per year in interest, also known as debt service. That is a 28.4% interest rate. They either need to renegotiate the terms or find a new lending institution. A financial advisor would be needed to help the city develop the best strategy to reduce the interest rate and to reduce the debt load.
Debt source: Finance director's email exchange with me on 8/2/24. Eliminate the perfunctory public engagement. The public is provided with the opportunity to provide public engagement but the important detail is, how do city leaders use the information they solicit. I can name several projects where the engagement was overwhelmingly against the city's plan to spend limited funds but the city went forward with their plans disregarding the input. One that still hurts was the redesign of Stone Bridge Park to the tune of approximately $340K. While there was needed work that was required for better filtration to the lake with an underground chamber, every person who attended the public information session pleaded with the city to not make it into a golf course style design. The public was ignored and now the park is rarely used other than by cyclists riding around the lake loop who roll down the massive concrete path to take in the lake view, then leave. Much of that design was driven by the need for accessibility but was anyone with mobility challenges was asked for input by the city? I asked a couple of friends who use wheelchairs and they both said they would not be able to use the park due to the steep climb and the lack of a parking area where they could safely exit their vehicles. They prefer Schluter Beach.
Raising taxes during a housing crisis is bad timing. Raising property taxes during a housing crisis can place an additional financial strain on residents, especially those who are already struggling with the high cost of living. Property tax increases will be passed on to renters resulting in higher rents making housing less affordable. In Monona, we have a good amount of naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH). It provides affordable rental rates for working class people and diverse groups of residents. Raising taxes increases the likelihood of these property owners selling to be replaced with market value rentals to the tune of $1,500/month doubling what many of them pay today. This will decrease Monona's currently limited diversity in population, diversity in housing and affordable options.
Engage in lobbying efforts at the Capitol with other small cities and villages. There is a lot of talk right now about Milwaukee's success in lobbying in regards to receiving state aid as compared to Madison's. It's clear that the time spent lobbying directly resulted in increased state aid. Let's do this with our comrades from small cities and villages. These networks exist and the city needs to put pressure on the Dane County Cities and Villages Association to lobby more. Increasing the lobbying efforts leads to more state aid.
The purpose of this post is to provide you with supplemental information not linked to the city's PR campaign. It is our duty to hold elected officials accountable and demand better financial management. They need to do the hard work that we elected them to do. We all love Monona and we deserve to have transparency, sound fiscal management, and to be heard when our input is requested.
The city will hold a referendum informational session on Oct. 23 from 6:30-8pm at the Library in the municipal room. The deadline to receive an absentee ballot by mail is October 31. In-person absentee voting begins at City Hall on October 22 through November 1.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' DAY ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 14TH
Monday, October 14th is Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Although it’s not a federal holiday, it is important to recognize the cultural significance of those who first walked on our lands. We are still here. We’re not just a part of our collective history. Our history is your history. We are still, and will continue working towards recognition beyond the performative; for representation in spaces of leadership; and fighting for the rights of our land and water.
I am proudly a member of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Sault, pronounced Soo, is a French term for people of the rapids. My tribe is made up of 44,000 members with our reservation being at the eastern region of Lake Superior. While my tribe is headquartered in Sault Ste. Marie in Chippewa County, the economic impact and support of my tribe extends across seven counties in Michigan’s upper peninsula.
Archeologists have found sites from my people dating back to 3000 B.C. Our people lived for thousands of years as a community that protected our natural resources so we could sustain our ways of life. That would all change with the arrival of settlers and the onset of an attempted genocide. Although our people and culture were decimated, we survived.
Please join me in recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day by taking a moment to learn more at one of the following online resources.
If you are on Facebook, you can view the Indigenous Peoples' Day event I organized for the city acknowledging our presence on Ho-Chunk land. CLICK HERE TO WATCH
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