Beloit, WI: 9.7 percent increase in SPED in 2025-2026 district budget from last year

Oct 28, 2025, Beloit Daily News: Turner tax rate falls for sixth straight year

https://www.beloitdailynews.com/news/local-news/turner-tax-rate-falls-for-sixth-straight-year/article_f4aeb4ca-3a7b-4df1-b4ff-cae97992b89c.html

BELOIT — Property owners in the Beloit Turner School District will see their MILL rates fall for the sixth straight year.

On Monday, the Turner School Board approved its 2025-2026 tax levy and budget, which calls for about $21.69 million in spending from its general fund and $3.83 million in special education spending.

The general fund budget is projected to be 3.6% higher than in 2024-2025 and its special education fund spending would see a 9.7% increase.

The district is expecting its general fund revenues to increase by 4.4% and Turner is projecting a 16% increase in state reimbursement funding for special education.

Turner’s budget was helped three ways by Gov. Tony Evers’ biennial budget, which was approved on July 3. It included a $325 per pupil annual revenue limit increase that was approved in the 2023-2025 budget, an increase in the rate the state reimburses schools for special education, and it increased the amount that districts have to pay when their students opt to go to other districts in the state’s open enrollment system.

Turner’s local tax revenue is expected to increase from $3.59 million to $4.26 million because of the per pupil increase. The amount of money Turner will get from the state for its state-mandated special education expenses is expected to jump from about $827,000 to $1.2 million.

Turner is an annual beneficiary of the open enrollment system. This year, Turner has 558 students who opted to enroll in to Turner versus 126 who chose to go elsewhere. Turner is expecting to pay out about $2.1 million for the students going elsewhere, a 9.6% increase, but Turner believes it will receive about $5.54 million, a 14.3% increase.

The property value in Beloit Turner have been rising sharply for several years, outpacing the growth in the tax levies, which has driven down the district’s MILL rate. In 2026, Turner property owners will pay a rate of just $5.73 per $1,000 of equalized assessed value. In 2019-2020, the rate was $10.79.