Culver Community Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

Our computation: about $61 a year more than this year's 17-cent referendum tax for the $200,000 median home, at the maximum rate.

A no vote

The 2018 levy ends after 2026, so 2027 bills have no referendum tax (about $147 less for the median home, our computation). About $2.2 million a year in revenue ends.

On the ballot

In full

Culver's schools ask voters to approve an operating levy of up to 24 cents per $100 (up to $2.9 million a year) for 2027-2034. The district has collected a 17-cent voter-approved levy since 2019, approved in November 2018, and that levy ends with 2026 taxes. So the choice is between continuing referendum funding at a higher maximum (YES) or ending it next year (NO). The district says the money supports staff pay and retention, safety (including school resource officers), class sizes and academic programs.

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.24 per $100 ^[1]

Most it could raise a year

$2,899,000 ^[1]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

Effectively succeeds the November 2018 operating levy (up to $0.17 for eight calendar years); DLGF certified that levy 'through 2026', so it ends with 2026 taxes ^[4][5]. The superintendent wrote that 'In November 2026, we will need to vote again for this increase to remain as a revenue source' ^[6]. The 2026 question uses the new-levy ('increase') form, for 2027-2034 ^[1][2]; there is no overlap year with the 2018 levy.

On a median home

$200,000 (certified by the Marshall, Fulton, Pulaski and Starke county auditors) ^[1] — Ballot figure: +$208 per year at $0.24 as if new ^[1]. Net vs. today: because the 17-cent levy is already scheduled to end after 2026, a YES would cost roughly $61 a year more than this year's referendum tax for the same home at the maximum, and a NO would lower the bill by roughly $147 a year compared with paying 17 cents. Both figures are our computation (scaling the auditors' $208 by 0.07/0.24 and 0.17/0.24); the district has not published a net figure.

If it passes

• Levy up to $0.24 / $2,899,000 for 2027-2034 ^[1][2].
• Uses: safety and well-being $0.58M; staff and class sizes $1.16M; academic and support programs $1.16M ^[2].
• Cost: ballot +$208/yr on a $200,000 home; roughly +$61/yr vs. the current 17-cent levy (our computation) ^[1].
• Outside the caps ^[7].

If it fails

• The 2018 levy is already scheduled to end with 2026 taxes, so beginning with 2027 bills Culver would have no referendum levy ^[5]. Roughly $2.2 million a year in referendum revenue (2026 level) would end ^[8].
• The median-home bill would be roughly $147 lower than with the 17-cent levy (our computation) ^[1].
• No official reduction list for a NO outcome was found.
• Re-try: November 2028 general election, at the earliest ^[7].

How it got on the ballot

• June 22, 2026: the board approved 'the referendum tax levy as presented' 6-0 (motion McCuen, second Maes; Jack Jones absent) ^[3][2].
• Resolution: the district cannot carry out its public educational duty for 2027-2034 without a levy of up to $0.24 / $2,899,000; no charter distribution planned ^[2].
• DLGF received the resolution and the four county auditors' certifications July 17, 2026 and approved the language July 23, 2026 (No. 26-041-REF) ^[1].
• Spending plan (estimated $2,899,000 a year): student safety, health and well-being $579,000 (shown as '$579,000.00.00'); teachers/staff and class sizes $1,159,600; academic and support programs $1,159,600 ^[2].

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment: 815 (2018-19) to 804 (2025-26), -1.3% ^[11].
• Fall 2025: 145 transfers in, 188 transfers out, 35 Choice Scholarship students (IDOE transfer report, as compiled) ^[12].
• 2026 certified rates: Debt Service $0.206, Operations $0.2534, Referendum $0.17 (total about $0.63); combined CNAV about $1.21 billion (+20% since 2023) ^[8].
• LSA estimate (SEA 1): -$286,850 (2026, -4.0%), -$444,040 (2027, -5.9%), -$694,990 (2028, -8.8%) ^[13].
• Superintendent Karen Shuman has described Culver's base school rate as 'the lowest tax rate for the whole state of Indiana' (undated message) ^[6].

What came before

• November 2018: operating referendum for eight calendar years at up to $0.17 for 'academic and educationally-related programs, increasing student opportunities and student safety, managing class sizes, and attracting and retaining teachers', PASSED (DLGF certified) ^[4][9]. Vote totals not found.
• DLGF estimated about $1,493,583 for 2019 and certified the levy 'through 2026' ^[5].
• Referendum rates levied: $0.17 (2023), $0.1592 (2024), $0.1547 (2025), $0.17 (2026); 2026 levy about $2.18 million across four counties ^[8].
• A district mailer credits the levy with an average $1,700-a-year teacher raise, starting pay rising from $34,500 (2018) to $46,500 (2025), two school resource officers, an assistant principal, a career coach, an additional counselor and other positions ^[10].

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 would the district cut first in 2027 if the levy ends?
• What rate would the board levy in 2027 (the plan assumes the full $2,899,000)?
• How is the referendum money split among the four counties' taxpayers?
• Which positions listed in the mailer are paid from referendum funds today?
• Why does the ballot say 'increase' when the district describes continuing existing funding?

What we could not find

• No district referendum webpage, FAQ or calculator found.
• 2018 vote totals not found (Marshall, Fulton, Pulaski, Starke results not located).
• Superintendent message and 2025 mailer are undated or approximately dated.
• Net tax figures are our computation, not district figures.

Sources