Madison council reviews draft 2026 budget, debates staffing, nonprofit cuts and infrastructure spending

Madison City Council members and staff reviewed the draft 2026 budget in a workshop meeting, debating whether to hold spending steady amid revenue uncertainty and where to prioritize limited funds.

Council members pressed staff on personnel changes, a proposed increase in professional services, and specific line items for nonprofit support, building security and infrastructure. Staff described offsets created by shifting some costs into other budgets and said several positions shown in the draft will not be filled in 2026.

The budget narrative drew multiple questions about staffing. One councilmember (Speaker 1) said the draft “includes 8 plus positions,” and another councilmember (Speaker 3) told colleagues, “I think increasing our budget is not probably the right thing, not knowing what we're going into.” Staff clarified that some jobs — including planning positions and police vacancies — were combined or left vacant; they also said moving an operations person from NPD would free funds to hire a fire chief.

City staff (Speaker 5) described professional-services dollars as “soft costs” used to pay for engineering and outside advice on projects that do not have grant reimbursement. To build a cushion, staff proposed a modest increase in the professional-services line; one councilmember suggested trimming it…