Dear Neighbor,

The City of Madison has gone through another city budget process and we were able to complete our 2004 budget with a record low increase of $8 per $1,000 of assessed value. There were six alders who introduced a resolution to place a spending cap on our 2004 taxes. The budget went up by 3.9%, resulting in a 5.5% increase in property taxes due to the reduction of state revenue.  The 7.1% property tax increase is because the School Board increase went up by 8%. I would like my constituents to know that I voted for a resolution to have a spending cap, because I believe that we should rethink in the way the City of Madison does business. I think that our citizens deserve to know that our city should be held responsible for keeping a lid on spending, as well as provide our citizens of Madison some mode of information in how, why and when we utilize our taxpayers money. All in all, we were able to preserve funding for our Senior Citizens, Community Centers, Child Care, and other social agencies that provide our community with many wonderful benefits to our residents.

It has been a very busy year for all of the council members who have been busy working and reviewing a number of topics such as: Inclusionary Zoning, Affordable Housing, and Environmental and Transportation issues. I want to update you on some of these issues and would welcome your comments or suggestions.

Inclusionary Zoning is a topic in which the Mayor, progressive council members and businesspeople such as realtors, builders, and developers are reviewing very carefully to see if there can be a balance and/or compromise. Inclusionary Zoning allows builders and/or developers to add more units per acre if a percentage of affordable units are included as part of the project.

The Affordable Housing ordinance is currently being worked on to allow our residents who fall under the Dane County Median Income to enter into the rental or housing market.  It is my sense that this ordinance will become the main focus of discussion in the next several common council meetings.

As our economic development growth continues we need to be mindful in the preservation and protection of our environment. Some of our developers and builders are already working with the City of Madison to find solutions for not disturbing our natural habitat. They are incorporating ideas into their projects in which the natural habitat will enhance the project versus the project harming the environment.

In the start of the new year, I will be working with our Mayor to look into the Tax Incremental Funding (TIF) corridor, along E. Washington

Ave. I believe that we can come up with several concepts of what we want to see along E. Washington Ave. The TIF District starts at the intersection of Hwy 30 and E. Washington Ave. and goes east toward the intersection of Hwy 51 and Hwy 151.  It is my hope that we can come up with a redevelopment plan by 2005.

On the transportation aspect, I am happy to report we have completed the speed bumps on Dwight Dr. The speed bumps were a necessary to help reduce the speeding on Dwight Dr. and assist pedestrians. I am proud to say that if it wasn't for the hard work by the residents who live along Dwight Dr., this wouldn't have been possible. The speed bumps have made a great different in this neighborhood street, our residents can now walk in this area without worrying about being in harms way.

The Ridgewood Neighborhood Association and its residents also were successful in obtaining two traffic circles along Oak Valley Dr. The traffic circles are located at the intersection of Glacier Hill Dr. and Oak Valley Dr. and at the intersection of Bultman Rd. and Oak Valley Dr. These traffic circles were built to help reduce traffic volume, semi-trucks from cutting through the neighborhood and some speeding.

Phase 2 of the Highway 51 assessment project is getting underway. This will be a follow-up to the recently completed needs assessment and will result in an identification and evaluation of alternative improvements as part of an environmental assessment process.

There are a few developments coming to the east side. There is a new Outback Steak House (formerly Mountain Jack's) to be open soon in the East Town Mall area. Tailgators Bar & Grill located on E. Washington Ave. (formerly the Lotus Restaurant) are interested in expanding their business. After a number of neighborhood meetings, where they had provided plans to the surrounding neighborhood, the neighbors have endorsed the plans and the owner, Dale Beck will be working on the new addition in 2004. Veridian's proposed village of Autumn Lake has worked its way through the approval process. This is a very interesting mixed use traditional neighborhood which incorporates many of the principals of the urbanism. It includes 1,200 new dwelling units and will be located east of I-90/94, on the north side of Lien and Reiner Roads. The Plan commission also approved the new Heartland Credit Union on High Crossing Blvd. at its last meeting.

Please call if you have any questions, my home number is 244-9197, work 271-5501. You can also contact me via email address, District17@cityofmadison.com.

I hope you and your family have a warm and safe holiday.

Ald. Santiago Rosas