City commission votes to extend vaccine lottery program

Lake County residents who have completed their COVID-19 vaccination series will continue to have a chance to receive one-thousand dollars in Mad Money from the City of Madison as part of its vaccine lottery program.  Madison City Commissioners on Monday voted to extend the vaccine incentive for another five weeks.  Commissioners voted in September to allocate up to 50-thousand dollars of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funds for the program.  The city started the program by giving one fully-vaccinated resident one-thousand dollars in Madison Chamber Mad Money each weekday for five weeks, for a total of 25-thousand dollars.  This is the fifth week of the program, and on Monday, Commissioner Adam Shaw said that the county’s vaccination rate increased by around six-percent since it started.  He said though that he couldn’t guarantee that the increase was directly related to the lottery program.

Three local residents, including Amy Christensen of Madison, attended Monday’s meeting asking commissioners to re-consider extending the program.

Another of the residents, Brenda Hanley, told commissioners she’d like to see the money used in the community to help businesses during the holiday season instead.

Commissioner Kelly Dybdahl said he looked further into what the city is supposed to use the ARPA funds for.

City Finance Officer Sonya Wilt said that the economic fallout from the pandemic has affected local residents and businesses. 

The commissioners unanimously voted to extend the vaccine lottery program for another five weeks.

More information on the program can be found here.