Franklin Community Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

Our computation: about $68 a year more than today for the median home if the full $0.29 replaced the $0.23 levy. The resolution does not say how the two interact in 2027.

A no vote

The 2019 levy continues through 2027 taxes and then ends (about $261 a year less for the median home, our computation). No district cut list was found.

On the ballot

In full

Franklin Community Schools asks voters to approve an eight-year operating levy of up to $0.29 per $100 and $9 million a year for 2027-2034 ^[1][3]. It would follow the $0.23 levy voters approved in May 2019, which raised about $6.8 million in 2026 ^[2][5]. The spending plan puts half of the 2027 estimate into retaining teachers and staff and the rest into health and safety and class sizes and programs ^[6]. The ballot's $329 figure counts the whole rate; the increase over today's rate at the cap would be smaller, about $68 for the median home by this study's calculation ^[1].

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.29 per $100 of net assessed value ^[1]

Most it could raise a year

$9,000,000 ^[1]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

Follows the May 2019 operating referendum at $0.23 for the eight calendar years after the vote (2020-2027 by this study's count); the 2026 resolution does not say how the two levies interact in 2027 ^[2][3] 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 ^[20].

On a median home

$250,000 ^[1][4] — (1) Ballot figure: +$329 per year at the full $0.29 rate, as if no referendum existed ^[1][4]. (2) Net vs. today: no district estimate was found in a readable official source. (3) Computed by this study on the net AV implied by the ballot figure (about $113,400): about +$68 a year if the full $0.29 replaced today's $0.23, before credits ^[1][5].

If it passes

• Levy for 2027-2034 capped at $0.29 and $9,000,000 a year ^[1][3].
• Spending plan, 2027 estimate $9,000,000: supporting and retaining teachers and staff $4,500,000; essential student health and safety $2,250,000; class sizes, academic programs and learning opportunities $2,250,000 ^[6].
• Tax effect: ballot +$329/yr at $250,000 (whole rate, as if new) ^[1]; computed at cap about +$68/yr over today's $0.23 before credits ^[1][5].
• Referendum levies are outside the 1%/2%/3% property tax caps (circuit breakers), so they are paid in full even by owners at their cap ^[15]; the new supplemental homestead credit (lesser of 10% or $300) does not apply to referendum taxes ^[16].
• Charter sharing: IC 20-46-1-22 (SEA 1 §222) requires sharing operating-referendum revenue with eligible brick-and-mortar charters only for levies imposed for the first time with taxes first due after Dec. 31, 2027, and only where at least the greater of 100 resident students or 2% of ADM attend such charters ^[17]. This levy would begin with 2027 taxes, so by the statute's text it would not be subject to that sharing, and the board resolution states the corporation "does not plan to distribute any revenue" from it to a charter school ^[3]. A renewal after 2034 would fall under the sharing rule.

If it fails

• The 2019 levy ($0.23) continues for its remaining term, which by the 2019 determination's "eight (8) calendar years" ends with 2027 taxes; nothing changes on the bill until then ^[2]. (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 ^[20][12].)
• Computed: from 2028, a $250,000 median home would pay about $261 a year less (0.23 x ~$113,400), and the district would lose about $6.8M a year unless voters approve a levy in November 2028 ^[1][5].
• No district statement of planned cuts for a NO vote was found.
• Under SEA 1, school property-tax referendums may be held only at November general elections in even-numbered years, so the earliest re-try after a NO would be November 3, 2028, for taxes beginning in 2029 ^[18].

How it got on the ballot

• June 23, 2026: with all five members present (Gill, Yount, Mann, Jones, Nelson), the board adopted the resolution and spending plan at a meeting in the Franklin Community Middle School auditorium; the minutes say the motion "carried" but give no tally ^[3].
• The Johnson County Auditor certified the $250,000 median and $329 figure July 2, 2026 ^[4].
• DLGF received the resolution July 6 and approved the language July 7, 2026 ^[1].
• The resolution states the levy is needed "in response to reductions in property tax revenue" for 2027-2034 ^[3][1].

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment: 5,046 (2018-19) to 5,001 (2025-26), -0.9%; excluding 118 virtual-school students, -3.2% ^[9].
• Fall 2025: 419 transfers in, 557 out; 241 resident students used Choice scholarships ^[10].
• Certified net assessed value: $2.13B (2023) to $2.95B (2026) ^[11][5].
• Operating referendum rate: $0.23 (2023), $0.2252 (2024), $0.2123 (2025), $0.23 (2026, levy $6.80M); total school rate $1.2346 in 2026 ^{[11][12][13][5]}.
• LSA estimated SEA 1 net levy change: -$1.19M (2026, -3.9%), -$1.35M (2027, -4.2%), -$1.66M (2028, -5.0%) ^[14].

What came before

• May 2019: operating referendum at $0.23 for eight years passed (certified) ^[2][7].
• No other Franklin Community School Corporation operating or construction referendum appears on DLGF's historic lists (Franklin Township Community School Corp. in Marion County is a different district) ^[7][8].

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

• Does the 2019 levy end with 2027 taxes, and would both levies be collected in 2027?
• What rate does the district expect to set for 2027 and later years?
• What would be cut if no referendum levy exists in 2028?
• How many teaching positions does the referendum currently fund?

What we could not find

• District referendum webpage (franklinschools.org/referendum) returned 404 on Oct 11, 2026; no district FAQ, net estimate or cut list was read.
• May 2019 vote totals not found (Johnson County results not located; Daily Journal not readable).
• Board vote tally not stated in minutes.
• End year of the 2019 levy is this study's reading of the determination; not confirmed by the district.
• Teacher pay and cash balances not compiled.

Sources