MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- In a post to its website Friday morning, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) shared its budget request for the 2027-29 state biennial budget, and that request included $2.75 billion in new aid.

If granted in full, the $2.75 billion figure would amount to 83% of the state's projected surplus of about $3.3 billion.

DPI spokesperson Chris Bucher told CBS 58 Friday morning the budget post was "posted prematurely due to an error on the backend of our website."

Bucher said the agency hoped to have the full context of its budget request online by late Friday morning. The initial post has been removed, and the web page now only shows the first part of the agency's budget request from September.

The current state budget includes $16.4 billion in general state aid for K-12 education, including public and charter schools, as well as vouchers providing through the state's school choice program.

The initial post touted how the significant funding increase would lessen the need for districts statewide to hold referendums.

A new analysis released Friday by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum found voters this year approved 90 of 155 referendum questions statewide.

The passage rate of 58% was slightly greater than a 56% passage rate last year, but it continued a trend of declining referendum success rates in even-numbered years.

While it's unlikely DPI will get the full increase it seeks, Democrats won control of the Legislature for the first time since 2010 and will have full control of state government when lawmakers convene for a new session in January.

Democrats campaigned on a promise to increase K-12 funding, so there's reason to believe DPI will get a significant funding boost.

One of the key questions ahead is to what extent a funding boost will also provide property tax relief, as the state's school funding system directly ties school aid and property taxes.

Under Republican legislative control, recent budgets have seen a state aid increase without an increase to the overall revenue limit, which amounts to property tax cuts without school districts seeing any additional funding.

The current budget agreed upon by GOP lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers did not increase general state aid for schools, instead targeting the state's special education reimbursement rate.

The current budget aimed to increase the special ed reimbursements to cover 45% of districts' costs, but the real dollars ended up falling short of that target.

The since-removed DPI budget request called for reimbursement rates of 50% in 2027-28 and 60% in the 2028-29 fiscal year.

The biggest long-term challenge for school districts is enrollment declines that project to only get worse due to falling birthrates. How DPI uses any additional dollars to help districts navigate those challenges will also garner close scrutiny from outside education observers.