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Middleton council deadlocks on budget range for proposed community campus after extended debate
Summary
After more than two hours of discussion, the Middleton Common Council declined to set a firm budget range for a proposed community campus, with motions to establish specific lower and upper bounds failing on roll-call votes. Staff will return with more detailed cost and engagement materials.
The Middleton Common Council spent the bulk of its Oct. 21 meeting debating how much the city should plan to spend on a proposed community campus but ended without a binding decision on a budget range.
City Administrator Brian opened the discussion by asking the council for guidance on “upper and lower bounds” for project scope and cost, saying staff had already identified roughly 13,000 square feet of building area that could be removed from conceptual plans to reduce cost. He told alder members the council’s previously discussed upper appetite had been about $100,000,000.
Council members offered a range of views. Some members urged a conservative floor focused on repairing critical safety issues and preserving existing services rather than expanding facilities; others advocated for mid- to upper-range proposals that would allow full replacement and modernization. Specific figures offered in the discussion included a renovation-only option of about $30.9 million, a compromise floor of roughly $60 million, and upper estimates approaching or capped at about $100 million.
“I would like us to include the cost ranges that are under consideration going forward for each of the plans,” Alder Myers said, arguing that transparency about budget ranges is necessary for informed public engagement.
Members also debated process and public outreach. Several alders urged that the city hold neutral, fact-based “information sessions” (some preferring the label “listening sessions”) and to present clear cost impacts on the average homeowner’s tax bill rather than burying numbers deep inside long reports. Alders recommended a mix of on-site tours of aging facilities, multichannel outreach beyond city email, and staged or phased financing to avoid a single large bond.
The council considered three formal options during the meeting: a motion to set a sentiment range from $70 million to $110 million, a finance-based substitute tied to projected tax impacts (±15%), and a proposed narrower upper bound of $80 million with no lower bound. The substitute motions were moved, amended and subjected to roll-call votes; the substitute tied to tax-impacts and the 70–110 motion both failed on roll call.
Council members discussed the role of a possible referendum. Staff said a decision about whether to place a referendum on a ballot could come later in 2026; alder members noted timing constraints for incorporating a referendum result into the budget and urged planning for fallback options if a referendum were advisory or failed.
Brian told the council staff would incorporate the feedback and return with more refined cost estimates, tax-impact information, and a communications plan. No binding budget, referendum date or final plan was adopted at the meeting.
