| By Big Radio News Staff |
Beloit School Board members will vote on putting an operational referendum on the April ballot on Thursday night.
If the question’s approved, the district would be asking voters for permission to exceed its state revenue limit in each of the next three school years to generate a total of $40.24 million in added revenue.
In 2025-26, the request would be for $9.1 million, then $14.1 million in 2026-27 and finally $16.9 million in 2027-28.
Raising that money would require a mill rate of $7.53 per $1,000 of equalized property value in each of the three years. That’s nearly four times higher than the current budget’s mill rate of $1.92.
The referendum question will be general in describing how the money will be used. Staff compensation, bolstering academic achievement and addressing behavioral issues emerged as top priorities for board members.
They did get specific about pay increases for employees during referendum deliberations over the last week. The option up for a vote Thursday night includes 5% raises in each of the three budget years the operational referendum would cover.
District officials say they plan to provide more details on how the money would be used in the months between now and the election April 1.
The district saw referendum questions voted down in each of the last two April elections.
Beloit Superintendent Dr. Willie Garrison is scheduled to join Tim Bremel on Your Talk Show at 10 a.m. Thursday here on WCLO.
