Bartholomew Consolidated Schools operating referendum renewal

What a vote means

A yes vote

The rate stays at $0.156. District estimate: the referendum part of a $250,000 home's bill falls from about $182 now to about $149 by 2034.

A no vote

The 2020 levy is collected through 2028 and then ends: $190 a year less for a $250,000 median home (ballot). The district cites cuts to staff pay and to School Safety Officers.

On the ballot

In full

BCSC is asking voters to renew, two years early, the 15.6-cent operating referendum they approved in 2020, for 2027 through 2034, with the yearly amount capped at $10.1 million (the district projects about $9.5 million on average, below the roughly $10.5 million collected in 2026). The money pays mostly for teacher and staff pay and partly for school safety officers. The current levy would otherwise run through 2028; the district is asking now because state law lets districts renew in the last two years of a levy and limits referendums to even-year November elections ^[1][2][3].

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.156 per $100 of assessed value (same as 2020) ^[1]

Most it could raise a year

$10,100,000 ^[1]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

Renews the June 2020 operating referendum ($0.156 per $100), which otherwise runs through 2028; the renewal period would be 2027 through 2034 ^[2][3]

On a median home

$250,000 (Bartholomew County Auditor certification) ^[1] — Ballot figure (renewal form): if NOT approved, a $250,000 median home's bill would fall by $190 a year after the 2020 levy ends in 2028 ^[1]. Net change vs. today if approved (district estimate): the rate stays at $0.156, and the referendum portion of that home's bill falls from about $182 now to about $149 by 2034 ^[1][3]

On other property

No separate business, rental or farm estimate was published; referendum taxes apply to all taxable property outside the 1%/2%/3% caps ^[14]

If it passes

• Spending plan (2027, $10.1 million estimate): teacher and staff compensation $9,280,000; student safety $820,000 ^[2].
• District says the money is not used for construction, bond payments, administrator salaries or capital projects ^[3].
• District projects an average levy of about $9.5 million a year, below 2026 collections of about $10.5 million, because of property tax reform; the rate stays capped at $0.156 ^[3][4].
• Cost: no rate change; district estimates the referendum portion for a $250,000 home would decline from about $182 to about $149 a year by 2034. Referendum taxes are outside the 1/2/3% caps ^[3][14].

If it fails

• The 2020 levy keeps being collected through 2028 and then expires; at that point BCSC would lose about $9.5-10.5 million a year ^[3]. (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 ^[15][18].)
• District says this would require 'significant reductions in teacher and staff compensation, elimination of School Safety Officers, and a rollback of the student outcome improvements achieved since 2020' ^[3].
• Ballot: a $250,000 median home's bill would fall $190 a year once the levy ends ^[1].
• Next chance: November 2028, the last general election before the 2020 levy ends ^[3][16].

How it got on the ballot

• Early 2026: BCSC surveyed the community through School Perceptions; at a March 2, 2026 work session the board heard that 63.3% of more than 4,500 respondents would support renewal 'at a lower average total cost' ^[3].
• April 27, 2026: administration presented a renewal recommendation, goal-progress report and proposed budget to the board ^[3].
• June 15, 2026: the board voted unanimously to place the renewal on the ballot (Mojo 102.9); the board secretary certified the resolution that day ^[2][4].
• DLGF received the resolution June 17, 2026 and approved the language June 22, 2026 ^[1].
• Reasons: the 2020 levy expires at the end of 2028; renewal is allowed in its last two years; the next allowed election after 2026 would be November 2028; and the district cites uncertainty from SEA 1 property tax changes ^[3].

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 11,530 (2018-19), 11,475 (2020-21), 11,635 (2022-23), 11,657 (2024-25), 11,459 (2025-26), roughly flat ^[10].
• Students living in BCSC (fall 2025): 12,649 state-funded residents; 313 transferred in and 624 out (81 to charter schools, mostly virtual charters such as Indiana Connections Academy); 1,189 used Choice Scholarships ^[11].
• Tax rates (DLGF certified): referendum $0.156 (2022-2023), $0.1534 (2024), $0.1486 (2025), $0.1498 (2026), levy $8.28M (2022) to $10.25M (2026); Operations $0.414 ($24.99M); debt service $0.338 ($20.40M); referendum debt $0.102. Net assessed value $4.69B (2022) to $6.04B (2026) ^[9].
• 2027 advertised budget notice: estimated property tax cap credits $4.07 million against a $26.5 million maximum operating levy; referendum fund to be raised $10.5 million ^[12].
• SEA 1-2025 estimate (LSA, House-amended version): BCSC net levy -$2.18M (2026), -$2.45M (2027), -$2.96M (2028) versus prior law ^[13].
• Charter sharing: BCSC's resolution says it does not plan to share this levy with charters. Statewide sharing of renewed referendum levies applies only to levies first imposed for taxes due after 2027 and only where at least 100 resident students (or 2% of ADM) attend non-virtual charters; BCSC's fall 2025 charter count was 81 including virtual charters ^[2][11][15].
• Teacher pay figures and cash balances were not found in sources reviewed.

What came before

• Nov 2012: operating referendum, $0.05 per $100 for 7 years for pre-kindergarten. FAILED (DLGF) ^[5][6].
• Nov 2014: operating referendum, $0.05 per $100 for 7 years for pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds with financial need. FAILED (DLGF) ^[5][7].
• June 2, 2020: operating referendum, $0.156 per $100 for 8 years for teacher and staff pay and safety. PASSED (DLGF certified); 61.3% yes, per the district ^[3][5][8].
• Since 2020 the district reports: staff retention up more than 4 percentage points, IREAD passing from 80% (2021) to a projected 91% (2026), graduation rate from 81% (2021) to a projected 98% (2026), a STEM lab in every elementary school, and 11 new school safety personnel; these are district-reported figures ^[3].
• BCSC also levies a separate referendum debt (capital) rate ($0.102 in 2026); the construction referendum behind it was not identified on DLGF's post-2009 historic list reviewed ^[9][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 will the referendum line on my bill be in 2027 under renewal versus under the current 2020 levy?
• How are the district's six referendum goals measured, and who verifies them?
• Which positions and safety officers would be cut first in 2029 if the renewal fails and a 2028 attempt also fails?
• How did the 2026 survey weight responses, and how close is it to a likely-voter sample?

What we could not find

• The Republic's coverage of the board actions rendered no visible text and was not used.
• Vote percentages for the 2012 and 2014 pre-K questions were not verified from an accessible source; certified 2020 totals not retrieved (61.3% is the district's figure).
• Teacher salary schedule and cash balances not found.
• Yes for BCSC committee registration not verified.

Sources