Rising rent pushes Dane County supervisor to resign from downtown Madison district

A Dane County supervisor says rising rents in her downtown Madison district have contributed to her decision to resign from her spot on the county board.

District 1 Supervisor Elizabeth Doyle will step down at the end of March after submitting her resignation this week.

A special election will be held at a later date to determine her replacement.

Doyle’s downtown district, which includes the state Capitol and the isthmus between Lakes Monona and Mendota, is home to some of the steepest rents in Madison.

She’s recently purchased a home elsewhere in the city, and is in the process of moving.

“It just kind of got to the point where it was unsustainable long-term to stay downtown,” Doyle said in an interview with WPR. “I’m very privileged and lucky, and my family and I are able to buy a place on the southeast side of Madison, so we’re not going far.”

Doyle said she’s currently paying about $2,400 a month for a two-bedroom apartment, and she’s now seen the place she’s vacating listed for more than that online. Over the last two years, she says her annual costs for rent and utilities went up by about $2,400.

Doyle works as a long-term care rate-setting manager at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, according to her county bio. Doyle’s partner died several years ago, and she’s a single mother to a teenager.

Doyle said her experience reflects a broader problem. She said she often hears from constituents about struggles with housing costs.

“Wage increases are not keeping up with housing increases,” she said. “Even before the pandemic, we were way behind in the area of having supply keep up with demand for housing.”

Doyle said county officials tried to tackle the issue in the county’s most recent budget, through measures such as bolstering a fund that’s meant to encourage affordable housing development.

Dane County is the fastest-growing county in Wisconsin, and housing in Madison and the surrounding area is in high demand.

In the last decade, median rent in Madison has grown by about 40 percent. And more than half of Madison renters spend over 30 percent of their income on housing costs, according to a recent housing snapshot from the city.

Doyle was first elected to the county board in 2019. Before she moved to Madison, she served on the Common Council in nearby Verona.

She said she doesn’t have immediate plans to run for public office again once she moves to a new district.

“This has been really fulfilling work, and this is a time where, unfortunately, there’s obviously a lot of pressures being put on local government because of the federal administration threatening to take away funding,” Doyle said. “I feel a little guilty having to step away at this time, but I just encourage other people to bring their voices and perspectives to public office.”