City of Madison Common CouncilLocal authority

The City of Madison Common Council is the legislative governing body of the City of Madison, the capital city of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. Composed of 20 alders elected from single-member districts, its mandate is to enact local ordinances, adopt the municipal operating and capital budgets, set city property tax rates, and oversee urban development, transit, and zoning policies. Established in March 1856 when the Wisconsin State Legislature officially incorporated Madison as a city, the council originally convened under the leadership of Jairus C. Fairchild, the municipality's first mayor, guiding the city's transition from a frontier village to a major Midwestern educational and political hub.