Elwood Community Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

Adds up to $245 a year for a $100,000 median home (ballot). No referendum tax is on bills now, so that is the full change (our reading of DLGF rates).

A no vote

No new tax; current rates stay. The district says it would have to reduce expenses further to match available funding. Next possible vote: November 2028.

On the ballot

In full

Elwood Community Schools is asking voters for a new operating property tax of up to 49 cents per $100 of assessed value, raising up to $2.5 million a year for eight years (2027-2034). The board says it cannot carry out its duties without at least $2.0-2.5 million a year because of reduced state distributions, property tax caps and credits, and assessed-value deductions under recent law. The money would go mainly to staff pay and retention, bus transportation, technology and the school resource officer. This is Elwood's first operating question since voters rejected a 50-cent request in 2010.

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.49 per $100 of net assessed value ^[1][2]

Most it could raise a year

$2,500,000 ^[1][2]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

None. Elwood has no operating referendum in effect; this would be a new levy for 2027-2034 ^[1][2]

On a median home

$100,000 (Madison County Auditor certification) ^[3] — +$245 a year if approved ^[1][3] Net change vs. today: no operating referendum tax is on this district's bills now (DLGF 2026 certified rates show no referendum fund), so the net change for the median home equals the ballot figure, up to $245 a year if the full $0.49 rate is levied (our reading of the DLGF rate table). ^[1][7]

If it passes

• Ballot figure: +$245 a year for the median home at the maximum rate. Because no referendum tax is levied today, this is also the net increase versus current bills (computed; actual first-year rate may be lower if the board levies less than the maximum). ^[1][7]
• Levy of up to $0.49 per $100 and $2.5 million a year for 2027-2034 ^[1]
• Revenue spending plan (estimate, based on 2025-pay-2026 assessed value at $0.49): staff retention and recruitment to maintain class sizes $1,050,000; student transportation $350,000 (part of wages and benefits for about 8 bus drivers and 5 bus monitors, plus fuel and maintenance); student and staff technology $250,000; school safety (existing school resource officer) $50,000; total about $1,700,000 a year ^[2]
• The district's website adds sustaining programs such as the Hinds Career Center ^[4]
• The resolution states the board will levy only what it needs each year ^[2]
• Charter sharing: mandatory statewide sharing (IC 20-46-1-22) applies only to referendum levies first imposed for taxes due in 2028 or later; this levy would begin with 2027 taxes. Elwood also has few charter-attending residents ^[11][12]
• Referendum taxes are outside the 1%/2%/3% caps, so homeowners at their cap still pay the referendum rate ^[12]

If it fails

• Nothing on tax bills changes: there is no existing referendum levy to expire, so a NO keeps the current rates; the district simply does not receive the new money from 2027. ^[7]
• No new tax; the district 'would be required to further reduce expenses to align with available funding' ^[4]
• Potential impacts the district lists: fewer course offerings or extracurriculars, reduced career and college readiness programs, fewer student support services, larger class sizes, difficulty attracting and retaining teachers, 'potential reductions in force over time', and for transportation, route reductions or consolidations and delayed bus replacement ^[4]
• No board-adopted reduction list was found
• Next possible ballot: November 2028 general election (700-day wait after a defeat, or 350 days with a petition) ^[12]

How it got on the ballot

• The Board of School Trustees adopted the '2027 Operating Referendum Tax Levy Fund Resolution' on June 18, 2026; the posted copy does not show the vote count ^[2]
• The resolution cites 'continued significant reductions in the monthly distributions received from the State of Indiana', circuit breaker credit losses (IC 6-1.1-20.6), other credits applied from 2025, and expected reductions in net assessed value from new deductions, and says the district needs a levy of 'between at least $2,000,000 and $2,500,000' for 2027-2034 ^[2]
• The board committed in the resolution to review the need each year and 'levy no more than the amount needed' plus a reasonable working balance ^[2]
• The Madison County Auditor certified the $100,000 median home and +$245 on May 29, 2026 ^[3]
• DLGF received the resolution June 22, 2026 and approved the ballot language July 2, 2026 (No. 26-033-REF) ^[1]
• The Madison County Election Board voted to place the question on the November ballot (Herald Bulletin; only free opening lines read) ^[9]

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 1,568 in 2018-19 and 1,408 in 2025-26 (-10.2%) ^[10]
• Fall 2025 transfers (IDOE): 1,560 state-funded resident students; 279 transferred in, 308 transferred out, 20 used Choice vouchers; net -49 ^[11]
• Charters: 20 Elwood-resident students attended charters in fall 2025, almost all virtual (13 Indiana Connections Academy 7-12), well under the 100-student threshold for statewide charter sharing ^[11][12]
• Net assessed value: $265.0 million (2022) to $340.3 million (2026), +28% ^[7]
• 2026 certified school tax rate $1.3498 per $100: Debt Service $0.6974, Operations $0.6524; no referendum rate ^[7]
• Circuit breaker losses, 2026: $1,242,837 of the $2,219,927 Operations Fund levy (56%) was not collectible, $1,120,788 of it from the 1%/2%/3% caps ^[8]
• SEA 1 (2025) LSA estimate: Elwood net levy -$152,730 (2026), -$165,420 (2027), -$488,730 (2028, -13.4%) versus prior law ^[13]
• The district says federal Title funds, the Hinds Career Center shared-service model, grants and E-Rate (about 80% of network costs) have stretched resources but many are 'temporary or restricted' ^[4]
• The district's website posts a 2026 financial projection and 2021-2025 expenditure history as images; their figures were not read for this profile (see gaps)

What came before

• Nov 2, 2010: Elwood asked for an operating levy of $0.50 per $100. It FAILED ^[5]
• No other Elwood operating or construction referendum appears in DLGF's historic referendum lists ^[5][6]
• Superintendent Dr. Troy Friedersdorf's message says the district has relied on 'careful budgeting, shared services, grants, partnerships, and difficult cost-saving decisions' and that 'reductions alone will not be enough' ^[4]

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

• The spending plan totals about $1.7 million, but the ballot allows up to $2.5 million a year; what would the extra capacity be used for, and does the board expect to levy the full $0.49?
• What are Elwood's current Education and Operations fund balances, and what deficit is projected for 2027-2028 without the referendum?
• Which specific positions or bus routes would be cut first if it fails?
• How do Elwood's high debt service rate ($0.6974) and the new referendum rate together affect taxpayers who are not at their tax cap?
• What changed since voters rejected a 50-cent request in 2010?

What we could not find

• Board vote count on June 18, 2026 not shown in the posted resolution
• The district's financial-projection and expenditure charts are images and were not transcribed
• Teacher pay and cash balance data not located
• Herald Bulletin coverage is paywalled; only free lines were used
• 2010 vote totals and percentages not found in a freely readable source; the DLGF list gives only the result

Sources