Friendliness and hospitality are alive and well in the City of Madison. We have retained all the best of the past: a small town atmosphere with friendly neighbors, responsive city government, low crime rate and excellent schools. Madison is a progressive city with a strategic Vision Plan, spelling out the city's needs and hopes. The Capital Improvement Plans have resulted in a new library, new fire stations, a new spacious recreation center, and a number of road and drainage projects. Other projects, such as additional ball fields, new roads and drainage improvements continue to be added. Concerned with the education of our children, this city's residents voted an additional 11 mil property tax on themselves to help pay for new schools. These have been constructed and rank as some of the highest quality schools in the country providing our children a much better than average education opportunity.. This is due in part to the October 1997 decision of the Madison City Council's vote to break away from the county school system and form a city system, which was inaugurated on July 1, 1998.