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BELOIT--West Branch voters declined the proposal for a new 1-mill capital improvement levy in Tuesday's General Election.
"I'd like to thank everyone that attended the town halls and our committee for all their hard work. We had a lot of good questions and a lot of good engagement. We will continue to keep our families and community updated as we formulate a plan going forward. We intend to remain transparent with what we plan to do and why and go from there," Superintendent Matt Manley said.
According to final but unofficial results, the levy failed by a vote of 1,972 (39.61%) for and 3,006 (60.39%) against.
The levy would have generated approximately $441,471 for the district's long-term facility and maintenance needs annually at a cost to residents of $35 for each $100,000 of assessed property valuation, meaning the owner of a home valued at $200,000 would have paid twice that amount. The levy would have had a five-year collection period beginning in tax year 2026 and continuing through tax year 2030 and would have first been collected in calendar year 2027.
District officials have said that the levy was necessary to fund critical maintenance repairs across the district's schools, with Manley saying Tuesday evening that of the "four of the five" most critical issues all directly related to student safety. Of those key issues Manley said that the districts water suppression system "is number one by far" as the district continues to experience major issues with water pressure and volume.
"We've been told that our sprinklers, even though the alarms aren't going off, once you open a fire hydrant the pressure in our sprinklers would drop to 10 psi, so in the event of a fire we wouldn't have those too long," Manley said.
Manley said that while fires within a school building weren't common, that the district must be prepared for all eventualities to ensure the safety of its students. Manley also said that without a dedicated permanent improvement, levy maintenance costs must instead be paid from the district’s general operating budget, pulling funding away from other areas. He also said that the longer the district waits to address these issues, the more costly the final bill will become.
Despite those concerns, Manley said that he understands times are difficult right now and that community members are feeling crunch all over. A fact which he noted is exacerbated by the state pulling back on its share of public-school funding, footing taxpayers with more of the bill.
"Twenty years ago, the split was 50/50 and now it's 70/30; it’s hard for families. When you're being squeezed everywhere, you start looking for where you can say no," Manley said.
Manley said that in the immediate future the board of education, Treasurer Luke Cooper and he would be meeting to review the district's facility concerns. He said that when they last discussed the district's next steps in the event of the levy's failure that the district would present the question to voters again in the Spring.
"The needs for safety and security haven’t changed. So, unless there’s been a change of hearts, I think the next step would be to look at the spring, re-evaluate and continue to have dialogue with folks," Manley said.
Manley said that despite the levy being unsuccessful, he was proud of the West Branch community for the support it shows the district and one another. He said that the district would continue to pursue any and every avenue available for funding to address maintenance issues and would "be ready to go in tomorrow with a smile" and continue educating students.
"Those needs have to happen and we're going to get them to happen one way or another. I don't know how yet, but we will. Our students deserve it and our families deserve it. … We’re going to go back at it tomorrow and we're going to solve these safety problems and work with our community to do it," Manley said.