Following the rejection of a proposed $50.1 million budget, voters in the Waterloo School District will have a second opportunity next month to approve a revised 2023-2024 school budget.
In response to the budget’s initial rejection and a tax levy rate objection of 1.75%, the Waterloo Board of Education convened a special session on Thursday, where they approved a lower budget with a tax increase of 1.5%, reducing the overall spending by $32,000.
The revised budget, which was opposed only by board member Andrea Bennett, sets to collect $11.4 million from taxpayers and is just under $50 million.
This budget reduction is due to a $217,000 cut in state aid following the approval of Governor Kathy Hochul’s new state budget. Moving forward, the board plans to circulate a newsletter detailing the revised budget to district residents.
A public hearing on the new budget has been scheduled for June 6, with the budget vote set for June 20. Notably, Waterloo is one of only four districts out of 675 statewide where voters rejected their school budgets.
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