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In his final State of the City address Thursday night, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones called for a citywide referendum “to determine if the public supports raising taxes” to fund schools.

Jones said he would explore the idea with members of the City Council and wants to get the measure before voters in the November election.

“This is very important and the conversation has got to be a conversation that does not just take place at City Hall,” he said. “It’s got to be a conversation that takes place in the entire city.”

Jones said the city spends more of its budget on schools than any other department and academic performance improvements have been only “incremental.” At the same time, he said the School Board continues to ask for larger funding outlays for both operations and facilities.

“We have to acknowledge that our academic performance now ranks near the bottom,” he said.

Dana Bedden, Richmond’s schools superintendent, said in an interview Thursday night: “If a referendum was held, I think it would be very important to be specific about what the tax increase would pay for rather than a general question on increasing taxes.”