Barr-Reeve Community Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

District estimate: about $30-42 a year more than today for the median home in 2027, and at most about $91 a year over the life of the levy.

A no vote

The 2020 levy ($0.25) continues through 2028, per the district, and then ends unless a later vote passes. The district says it would face reductions in staff, services and programs.

On the ballot

The question as it is printed, word for word.

Shall Barr-Reeve Community Schools, Inc. increase property taxes paid to the school corporation for no more than eight (8) years for the purpose of funding and maintaining small class sizes, athletics and extra-curricular programs, elementary music and physical education programs and school safety and mental health resources in response to decreases in property tax revenue by imposing a property tax rate that does not exceed $0.40 and results in a maximum annual amount that does not exceed $2,200,000? If this operating referendum public question is approved by the voters, for a median residence of $250,000, the property's annual property tax bill would increase by $454 per year.

In full

Barr-Reeve is asking voters to replace its current operating referendum (25 cents per $100, approved in 2020 and running through 2028) with a new eight-year levy of up to 40 cents per $100 and $2.2 million a year. The district calls it a renewal and says the higher maximum rate is needed to raise about the same money after the 2025 property-tax law (SEA 1) reduced taxable assessed value. The money pays for the same things as the 2013 and 2020 referendums: small class sizes, athletics and activities, elementary music and PE, and safety and mental-health staff. Voters are asked now, two years early, because school referendums may only be held at November general elections.

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.40 per $100 of assessed value ^[1][2]

Most it could raise a year

$2,200,000 ^[1][2]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

The 2020 operating referendum (max $0.25 per $100, approved June 2020, runs through the end of 2028). The district says a 'yes' vote replaces that levy rather than adding a second one. Because the terms differ, state law makes this a new-levy question, so the ballot shows the full increase as if no referendum existed ^{[1][6][10][11][22]} A passing new levy does not automatically repeal the existing one unless the question or resolution says so; IC 20-46-1-19.5(b) allows one earlier and one later levy in the same year ^[21]; no replacement clause was found in the resolution pages read.

On a median home

$250,000 (median household assessed value certified by the Daviess County Auditor, rounded up to the next $50,000) ^[1] — +$454 a year on the ballot, which is the cost of the full $0.40 maximum with no credit for the existing $0.25 levy ^[1]. The district estimates the extra cost compared with today's referendum at about $42 a year in 2027 and at most about $91 a year over the life of the levy (June 2026 presentation; WZDM); its FAQ gives about $30.28 a year in 2027 ^[10][11][15]

If it passes

• The new levy (up to $0.40 and $2.2 million a year) replaces the 2020 levy and runs 2027-2034 ^[2][11]
• Spending plan for an estimated $1,350,000 in 2027: maintaining class sizes $599,000; athletics and extracurricular programs $345,000; safety and mental-health resources $229,000; music and physical education $169,000 (scanned figures read by OCR) ^[3]
• District cost estimate for a median homeowner: about $42 more per year in 2027 than the current referendum (about $3.50/month) and at most about $91 more per year during the levy's life (June presentation); FAQ: about $30.28 more per year in 2027 ^[10][11][15]
• The ballot figure ($454 a year for a $250,000 median home) assumes the full $0.40 rate and no existing referendum ^[1][22]
• Referendum taxes are outside the 1%/2%/3% tax caps ^[4]
• Charter sharing: the resolution says the district does not plan to share the levy with charter schools; statewide sharing applies only to referendum levies first imposed for taxes due after Dec. 31, 2027, and a levy approved in 2026 is first imposed in 2027 ^[2][21]

If it fails

• Timing: nothing changes for taxpayers in 2027-2028. The 2020 levy (up to $0.25; $0.25 and $1,260,641 in 2026) continues through the end of 2028, according to the district; it would end after 2028 unless a later question passes ^[11][12][16] (No statute says a failed later question ends a levy voters already approved. After failed renewals in Hammond and Lake Station (Nov 2023), DLGF kept certifying the existing levy to its original end date. IC 20-46-1-19(a)(1) ('may not make any levy for its operating referendum tax levy fund'), read alone, could suggest otherwise; no DLGF memo or court ruling settles it ^[21][23].)
• The district says it 'would need to evaluate reductions to programs and services currently supported by referendum funding', and that without referendum funding it 'would face substantial reductions in staff, services, and programs that directly impact students'. No specific cut list was published ^[10][12]
• Retry: operating referendums may only be held at a November general election, and after a defeat another may not be held for 700 days (350 with a petition); the next possible date is November 2028 ^[21]
• A levy approved in 2028 would be first imposed in 2029 and would fall under the statewide charter-sharing rule if at least 100 resident students (or 2% of ADM) attend brick-and-mortar charter schools; how many Barr-Reeve residents attend charters was not found ^[21]

How it got on the ballot

• June 16, 2026: the Board of School Trustees adopted the referendum tax levy resolution and revenue spending plan; the board secretary certified that it was adopted by a majority of the board. An official record of the vote count was not found ^[2]
• The resolution states that, based on revenue calculations for 2027-2034, the district 'will not be able to carry out its public educational duty' without a levy of up to $0.40 and $2,200,000 a year from 2027 through 2034 ^[2]
• Reasons given by the administration: the current referendum expires in 2028; inflation; and 'SEA 1 reduces future revenue growth'. The district also says it ranks among the 5 lowest-funded Indiana districts per pupil and receives less state money per student than about 97% of districts ^[11][12]
• June 17, 2026: DLGF received the resolution and the Daviess County Auditor certification; June 22, 2026: DLGF approved the ballot language ^[1]
• Sept. 3 and Sept. 21, 2026: district community information meetings (the Sept. 21 meeting at the Alfordsville fire station was a livestreamed special board meeting) ^[12][15]

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 851 in 2017-18, 935 in 2018-19, 995 in 2021-22, 1,029 in 2024-25 and 1,028 in 2025-26, a 21% rise since 2017-18 ^[18]
• District fall ADM: 723 (2010-11), 996 (2020-21), 1,028 (2025-26), and an estimated 1,026 for 2026-27 ^[13]
• Fall 2025 transfers (IDOE): 753 state-funded resident students; 390 transferred in, 63 transferred out, 52 used Choice vouchers; net +275, so about a third of students come from outside the district ^[19]
• Referendum levy history (certified budget orders): rate $0.2107 (2022), $0.2393 (2023), $0.2100 (2024), $0.2229 (2025), $0.2500 (2026); 2026 levy $1,260,641 ^[16][17]
• Net assessed value $374.8M (2022) to $504.3M (2026); the district says 2027 assessed value was released at $496.3M, down 1.6% ^[13][16]
• Total school tax rate $0.9522 (2022) and $0.9350 (2026); 2026 operations $0.4014, debt service $0.2836, referendum $0.25 ^[16][17]
• State funding (district budget presentation): foundation amount $7,071 per student in 2026-27 (+1.5%); complexity funding $187.10 per student; academic performance grant down 35.7% ^[13]
• 2027 budget notice: estimated school operating max levy $2,145,695; property tax cap credit (circuit-breaker) estimate $136,820; referendum fund budget $1,500,000 with a maximum advertised levy of $2,200,000 ^[14]
• District projection for 2027: referendum revenue of about $1,240,728 under the 2020 levy versus $1,339,986 under the proposed 2026 levy ^[13]
• SEA 1 (2025), LSA estimate for Barr-Reeve: net levies $274,500 lower in 2026, $357,530 lower in 2027 and $443,460 lower in 2028 than under prior law (-5.6%, -7.1%, -8.5%), House 2nd-reading version ^[20]

What came before

• May 2013: first operating referendum, up to $0.35 per $100 for seven years. PASSED (DLGF). Vote totals were not found ^[5][7]
• June 2, 2020 (primary moved because of COVID-19): referendum to replace the expiring 2013 levy at up to $0.25 per $100 for eight years for 'small class sizes, athletics and extra-curricular programs, elementary music/physical education programs, and school safety/mental health resources'. PASSED 442 yes to 264 no (62.6%), according to the state election-night archive; DLGF lists it as passed (certified) ^[5][6][8]
• The district says it was able to lower the authorized rate from $0.35 to $0.25 in 2020 because of enrollment growth, state funding increases and higher assessed value ^[10]
• No construction (controlled project) referendum by Barr-Reeve appears in DLGF lists ^[5]

What each side says

Other people's words and claims, not ours, each with the page it came from. Where we found no organised campaign on a side, the page says so rather than inventing one.

Questions worth asking

• What rate does the board expect to set in 2027 and later years, and how close to the $0.40 and $2.2 million caps could it go?
• What would the district cut first if the question fails and the 2020 levy ends after 2028?
• How much referendum money pays for staff positions, and how many positions depend on it?
• How does the $454 ballot figure compare with what my property actually pays now under the 2020 levy?
• Why does the district advertise a 2027 referendum budget of $1.5 million when the spending plan estimates $1.35 million?

What we could not find

• Vote totals for the May 2013 referendum were not found; the June 2020 totals come from the state election-night archive, which is marked not certified (DLGF lists the result as certified passed).
• The board vote count on the June 16, 2026 resolution was not found in an official record (an unofficial automated meeting summary on citizenportal.ai reported a unanimous vote; not used as a source).
• Barr-Reeve board minutes, cash balances and teacher salary data were not reviewed.
• Number of Barr-Reeve resident students in charter schools (needed to judge future charter-sharing exposure) was not found.
• The spending-plan line items were read by OCR; they add to $1,342,000 against a $1,350,000 total, so one figure may be misread.
• The district referendum calculator page did not load as text.
• Effect of a NO on the 2020 levy: the district says it continues through 2028. No statute says a failed later question ends a levy voters already approved. After failed renewals in Hammond and Lake Station (Nov 2023), DLGF kept certifying the existing levy to its original end date. IC 20-46-1-19(a)(1) ('may not make any levy for its operating referendum tax levy fund'), read alone, could suggest otherwise; no DLGF memo or court ruling settles it ^[21][23].

Sources