Madison's financial committee on Monday scrutinized but endorsed Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's proposals for a $37 million central library and $16 million in public assistance for redevelopment of the Edgewater Hotel.

In a marathon six-hour meeting, the Board of Estimates voted 6-0 to reject a bid for a binding public referendum on the library in April, and it deadlocked 3-3 with Cieslewicz casing a tie-breaking vote to keep $16 million in tax incremental Financing (TIF) support for the Edgewater project in the mayor's proposed $185.8 million capital budget for next year.

The board also added $7.5 million to the mayor's budget proposal, including $5 million to buy and landbank developable parcels of land.

Alds. Judy Compton and Michael Schumacher, who sought the library referendum but are not board members, said they might push for a public vote when the City Council considers the capital budget and the mayor's proposed $239.4 million operating budget the week of Nov. 10.

"I believe the taxpayer has the right to vote," Compton said. "What does the body have to fear? That it's going to fail?"

The council, Cieslewicz and others said, is elected to make tough decisions and a library referendum would waste time and resources.

The mayor wants the city to use $37 million in borrowing, tax credits and private fundraising over three years to pursue a proposal by the Fiore Cos. for a six-story, glass-and-stone library at Henry Street and West Washington Avenue that would be part of a larger development.

Alds. Satya Rhodes-Conway and Jed Sanborn, who sought to remove the Edgewater TIF, vowed to try again next month.

The Hammes Co. proposed to restore the Edgewater, create a landscaped plaza atop a 1973 addition, and build a staircase to Lake Mendota and a new hotel tower at Langdon Street and Wisconsin Avenue. Hammes is now working with a neighborhood group to address concerns about height, traffic and parking and reshape plans.

"We don't even know if we have a project eligible for TIF funding," Rhodes-Conway said.

The budget doesn't guarantee TIF money but deleting it would mean Hammes would need a hard-to-get 15-vote super majority to secure funds later, Cieslewicz said.

Hammes President Robert Dunn later said, "The project simply does not work without the TIF."

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