Madison officials set aggressive housing goal, unveil public tracker and funding tools

Heather Strouder, a planner with the City of Madison Department of Planning, Community and Economic Development, told the Plan Commission that city staff have set “a really aggressive goal for the next five years” to add 15,000 new homes and that roughly one quarter of those should carry long‑term affordability commitments.

The update, delivered at a Plan Commission meeting, included a demonstration of a public housing tracker that staff said will show units under construction and units completed, and a discussion of the city’s financing and regulatory tools — notably the Affordable Housing Fund, tax increment financing (TIF), and Community Development Authority (CDA) projects.

The goal and tracker are intended to respond to what Strouder described as “pretty dramatic housing need in the city and the county, actually,” and to raise Madison’s vacancy toward a healthy 5–6 percent level. Staff said the city is counting all housing units (apartments, condos, accessory dwelling units) toward the 15,000‑unit target for the five‑year period through 2030, and that the city’s working definition of long‑term affordability is commitments stretching multiple…