On Monday, December 11, 2023, the Janesville City Council passed a resolution formally adopting the City of Janesville’s 2024 Federal and State Legislative Agenda.

Through the annual legislative program, the City Administration communicates the legislative priorities of the City to federal and state legislators and the public. The eighth annual agenda, the document outlines key issues at the state and federal level that impact the City’s ability to fulfill its mission of public service.

2025 Legislative Agenda

Federal Legislative Agenda

ISSUE 1: Support for Housing and Community Development Programs

Federally backed housing and community development programs, like the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Partnership (HOME) programs, are critical to assisting people living and working in Janesville and supporting the local economy. These programs help increase housing supply, improve housing quality, provide residents with low and moderate-income levels with decent, safe, affordable housing, revitalize neighborhoods, encourage homeownership, and improve fair housing opportunities. Improving housing access results in community-wide benefits such as economic stability, better health, and access to quality education.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) should consider increasing funding and making changes to these programs to allow for the more effective use of federal funds during a national affordable housing crisis.

• The City recommends increasing funding for the CDBG and HOME programs. These programs are vital tools for addressing critical community needs, such as affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization. Enhanced funding would allow the City to expands its efforts to support residents earning low to moderate income and improve overall quality of life. By increasing resources for these programs, we can better meet local priorities and build stronger, more resilient communities.

• The City requests revision to the CDBG program to allow for the construction of new affordable housing units more broadly. Creating new units is necessary to address the national housing crisis.

• The City recommends repealing for reforming the Davis-Bacon Act to eliminate prevailing wage requirements on federally funded housing projects. These mandated wage rates often artificially inflate construction costs and limit competition by adding an undue administrative burden. By addressing this issue, we can create opportunities for more competitive bidding and increase the number of projects completed within available budgets. This reform would ensure that public funds are used more efficiently, delivering greater value to communities nationwide.

• The City requests an expansion of the federal tax credits program which can be paired with other state and local funding sources to leverage increase housing production. This will result in improved housing affordability for all.

ISSUE 2: Improve the Effectiveness of the HCV Program

Through the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCV), the City assists approximately 440 families monthly with rent, providing housing stability for families with extremely and very low-income levels. Families assisted in Janesville have an average annual income of only $15,010, and 64% of those receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security, or pension income. A total of 23% of those admitted to the program over the past year were considered homeless at the time they were admitted to the program. The program is an effective means of serving those who are experiencing homelessness and preventing those with very low-income levels from becoming homeless.

During a recent opening of the waiting list, 1565 households applied for the program. Over 46% of those applicants were elderly or disabled and almost 80% were a female-headed household. Eligible applicants wait several years for assistance. Even once they are determined eligible for the program, finding housing in a tight housing market and under the HUD Fair Market Rents definition is challenging.

Administrative fees for the HCV program are insufficient to operate the program in a manner that truly supports and encourages family self-sufficiency. 

The HCV program allows for a home ownership option; however, challenges due to housing supply, cost, and lending products prevent housing choice vouchers from being used to support homeownership goals. 

• The City requests HCV funding be increased as an effective means of serving those who are experiencing homelessness and preventing further homelessness.

• The City requests our federal partners revise the formula for calculating Fair Market Rent levels and/or make permanent an option for Housing Authorities to implement and Payment Standard of 120% of FMR, to reflect current data in a rapidly changing housing market and increase the leasing options for families to locate suitable housing.

• The City requests an increase to administrative funding to 100% of fee eligibility so the City can provide services more effectively and help participants reach self-sufficiency goals.

• Lastly, the City requests federal stakeholders require or approve revisions to Freddie Mac and Fannie Maw underwriting guidelines to utilize the full Housing Assistance Payment as a direct offset to the mortgage payment (rather than as a source of income) so that program participants are able to become homeowners under the HCV Homeownership Program. 

ISSUE 3: Continued Support for Public Transit

Janesville Transit (JT) meets the public’s transportation needs by providing bus service within Janesville and regionally, allowing residents to get to work, school, and essential services such as healthcare. In 2021, and again in 2024, JT received zero findings from the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Triennial Review of the agency. These results indicate the FTA noted no deficiencies in the system’s performance or adherence to federal guidelines. Federal funding is vital to support JT’s capital needs and daily operations. We appreciation Janesville’s receipt of capital funding, which allowed us to replace circa 1979 passenger shelters, circa 1990 fareboxes and replace buses hat were past their useful lives in years and miles.

JT puts every dollar granted by the FTA to effectively provide safe, reliable, and courteous transportation to benefit Janesville residents and businesses. The City respectfully requests continued prioritization of public transportation by providing consistent and sufficient capital and operating funds for transit systems like Janesville. 

State Legislative Agenda 

ISSUE 1: Fully Fund the Payment for Municipal Services Program 

The State has several facilities in Janesville that rely on critical municipal services such as public safety and solid waste collection. These facilities, of course, do not directly contribute to delivering these services through property taxes. However, the goal of the Municipal Services Program is to ensure the State pays its rightful share as a user of these municipal resources. In keeping with a trend of failing on the program's mission, the State's funding of this program for 2024 covers only 38.2% of eligible municipal expenses. As in years past, this leaves Janesville residents to subsidize the remaining 61.8% of the State's service costs. 

As a regional hub, our community's state facilities serve citizens from beyond Janesville. Yet, the Legislature leaves City taxpayers alone to make up the difference in funding this program. Had the State fully paid for the municipal services it uses, the City would have received an additional $175,600 in revenue for 2024. The City asks the State to contribute equitably and pay its fair share by fully funding the Municipal Service Program. 

ISSUE 2: Restoration of Fiscal Local Control

Municipalities provide essential services such as public safety, utility systems, and paved and plowed streets. Despite the great responsibility municipalities assume, the State has stripped the local ability to generate the revenue to keep up with rising costs and meet citizen expectations.

• Levy limits: These restrictions hinder a municipality's ability to provide services that grow in cost faster than the increased property value from new construction. With a net new construction rate of just 1.75% for 2024 and inflation projected to be 3.1%, state-imposes levy limits again guarantee the City will lose the buying power needed to meet our community's expectation for quality City services. Fiscally prudent municipalities like Janesville, where the property tax per capita is fourth lowest among our 14 peers, are significantly disadvantaged by levy limits. The City asks the State either remove levy limits or allow municipalities to increase their levies by a maximum of inflation plus net new construction. 
• Expenditure Restraint Program (ERP): State statute currently allows municipalities to exceed their levy limit if voters approve the increase via referendum; paradoxically, those increases are not exempt from the ERP calculation. Many municipalities with successful referendums increase their budget beyond their ERP limit and lose State aid. For example, the City of Janesville cannot ask the voters to exceed the levy limit for the enhanced street rehabilitation program without the risk of exceeding the ERP limit and losing $572,000 in aid. The State should address this contradiction by exempting any budgetary increase for a successful referendum from the ERP limit calculation.
• Local Sales Tax: The State’s $4.6 billion surplus suggest, amongst other things, that sales tax revenue has grown beyond what the State itself needs for its budgetary costs. At the same time, municipalities, which drive economic growth at the community level, remain unable to capture any benefit from sales surcharges. This situation is an outlier in states with strict levy limits, where municipalities are often allowed to levy a sales tax that decrease reliance on State aid and property tax. As a solution, the City asks the State to apportion 0.5% of its 5% sales tax to the municipality where the sale occurs. This proposal would allow a local sales tax while not impacting consumers. The City estimates that in 2022, apportioning 0.5% of the state sales tax to Janesville would have generated an estimated $12.4 million in revenue for the City. This revenue would be paid in part by non-residents that use services in Janesville, the economic hub of our region. This added revenue stream would provide financial flexibility, relieve the tax burden felt by property owners, and allow the City to decrease its reliance on debt for capital projects. 

The City asks you restore local fiscal control by:

• Either removing levy limits or allowing municipalities to increase their levies by a maximum of inflation plus net new construction.

• Exempting any budgetary increase for a successful referendum from the ERP limit calculation.

• Apportioning 0.5% of the state sales tax to the municipality of sale.

ISSUE 3: Proposed Improvements to WHEDA Affordable Housing Programs

Every person deserves a safe, quality, and affordable place to live, yet there is a significant lack of housing that the average Janesville resident can afford. WHEDA housing programs play a crucial role in housing development, and the ability to combine these programs with federal and local housing resources is needed to address the housing shortage. These programs provide decent, safe housing and help revitalize neighborhoods, encourage homeownership, and improve overall housing quality and fair housing opportunities. Improving housing results in community-wide benefits such as economic growth and stability, better health, and access to quality education.

While we applaud the recent efforts of WHEDA to create new programs to foster affordable or workforce housing developments, including the recently released Restore Main Street and Vacancy Vitality programs, we encourage the revision of the program to remove the prohibition of municipalities from applying for the funds. Affordable and workforce housing cannot happen in the current housing landscape without a partnership with municipal involvement and funding. Municipalities could create robust development incentives for affordable or workforce housing if eligible.

The City of Janesville further requests an increase in tax credit allocations and WHEDA’s consideration of revisions to the tax credit Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) process to leverage unit development, provide greater flexibility in site selection, and advance housing opportunities throughout the community.

The Qualified Allocation Plan is a system for scoring the impact of a housing project on Wisconsin residents. Tax credit applications consistently exceed available funds, yet projects cannot move forward without them.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development created the HOME-American Rescue Program, and Rock County’s allocation is approximately $2.4 million. Incorporating bonus points into the QAP for the next two years for projects incorporating HOME-ARP units to maximize the unit generation under the HOME-ARP program.

Additional points should be regarded as within the supportive housing category for HOME-ARP units. This funding must be used to assist those that meet a qualified population, which focuses on individuals who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, etc. While this presents an opportunity to serve those in greatest need, it also requires a significant shift in how developers establish and sustain relationships with local homeless service providers that warrant consideration during the scoring process. 

ISSUE 4: Support of Continued Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Funding

For 30 years, the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program has protected Wisconsin lakes and streams, secured critical wildlife habitats, and provided world-class recreational opportunities. This program offers essential matching grants that stretch budgets further and maximize public funds, with grants to local governments matched through local revenues and grants to nonprofit organizations matched through philanthropy and fundraising.

Since 1991, the City of Janesville has received over $1,600,000 in grants from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program for various projects and purchases. This funding has allowed the City to witness firsthand the ability of this program to advance Janesville’s goal of creating a safe and healthy community for all its residents.

Knowles-Nelson funding is up for renewal in the next state budget, with Governor Evers’ Administration proposing a 10-year reauthorization at $100 million per year in the DNR budget request. The City supports this proposal and the continued mission of the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program.

ISSUE 5: Equitable Distribution of State Shared Revenue

State shared revenue is critical to the ability of local governments to provide public services to the citizens. Two years ago, the City of Janesville lauded the signing of Assembly Bill 245 into law by Governor Tony Evers, providing historic increases in support for the shared revenue program. However, this change did not solve a long-standing inequity in Janesville's shared revenue payments compared to peer communities. Janesville has the second-lowest tax rate of its fourteen peer municipalities in the state. Further, of these communities, Janesville receives the lowest combined property tax and shared revenue allocation.

This inequity has persisted for over twenty years due to the Legislature's decision to freeze payments in 2003 at levels calculated through a distribution formula developed in 1976.

In 2022, the last year of available data, peer municipalities received an average of $201 in shared revenue aid per capita, while Janesville received just $102. If the State adjusted its distribution reasonably so that our community received a percentage equal to the average peers, the City would see an additional $6,620,600 in shared revenue annually.

The City asks that its legislators support the creation of a more equitable distribution formula for shared revenue. Given the time that has elapsed since allocations were last apportioned on tangible attributes, the current system neither reflects community need nor rewards fiscal prudence on behalf of municipalities. This recalculation should account for factors such as population and assessed value growth to determine the distribution fairly.

ISSUE 6:Oppose Subjecting Storm Water Utilities Costly and Unnecessary PSC Regulation

Stormwater management is critical to protecting public health and the natural environment. Municipalities take responsibility for maintaining the infrastructure systems imperative to preventing flooding, erosion, and water pollution. Last year, proposed state legislation threatened the ability of local communities to manage stormwater efficiently and effectively. Senate Bill 455 would have subjected storm water utilities to the full authority of the Public Service Commission (PSC) to regulate rates and services. This proposed approach would be equally expensive and unnecessarily time-consuming.

While the City is thankful this misguided legislation failed to advance out of the Senate, we hope legislators continue to combat unnecessary and harmful attempts to erode local control over stormwater management. Any effort to authorize direct PSC oversight could require construction authorization on stormwater projects, shifting costs associated with Total Maximum Daily Loads and Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permitting. This change could represent a potentially heavy financial burden on Wisconsin’s families as commercial or industrial costs are redirected to residential customers.

Stormwater rates are already subject to review and oversight at the local level, with equivalent runoff units calculated to address the stormwater issues fairly between residential, commercial, and industrial classes. If a business believes its stormwater costs to be too high, it can seek to remedy its issue directly with the local elected officials. In addition to this local control, state oversight is already available. Any person or business can petition the PSC to review matters if they believe rates are unreasonable or unnecessary.

The City asks its state legislators to continue to oppose any efforts to place stormwater utilities under PSC Regulations and rather explore ways the state can support municipalities in the shared goals of stormwater management.

Contact Your Legislators

Community members can help the City lobby for solutions to these important issues by reaching out to their representatives using the information below. Contacting your legislators is an impactful way to lobby for the solutions identified in the City's legislative agenda.

United States Congress:

State of Wisconsin:

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