Hamilton Southeastern Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

District estimate: about $26 more in 2027 for a $400,000 home at a planned $0.22 rate. At the full $0.36, about $312 more (our computation).

A no vote

The current $0.1995 levy continues through 2031. The district says it would need further budget cuts that could affect staffing, programs and services.

On the ballot

In full

HSE asks voters to replace its current operating referendum (approved 2016, renewed 2023 at up to $0.1995 through 2031) with a new eight-year levy of up to $0.36 per $100 and $47.5 million a year for 2027-2034 ^[1][2]. The district says SEA 1 will cut projected referendum revenue by more than $45 million over 2026-2031 and that the money pays mainly for teacher salaries and benefits plus safety and behavioral health ^[3]. It plans a first-year rate of $0.22 and says the maximum is not expected to be used ^[5]. If voters say no, the 2023 levy continues unchanged through 2031 ^[3].

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.3600 per $100 of net assessed value ^[1]

Most it could raise a year

$47,500,000 ^[1]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

Repeals the operating levy extended by voters in Nov 2023 (max $0.1995, 2024-2031), effective for taxes payable in 2027, only if this question passes ^[2][3]

On a median home

$400,000 ^[1][4] — (1) Ballot figure: +$700 per year, computed as if no referendum existed and at the full $0.36 rate ^[1]. (2) Net vs. today (district estimate): about +$26 in 2027 for a $400,000 home at the planned first-year rate of $0.2200 versus the current $0.1995 (earlier estimate $37) ^[5][6]. (3) Computed by this study at the cap: about +$312 a year versus $0.1995 on a net AV of $194,400 (after the $40,000 standard and 46% supplemental deductions), ignoring caps and credits ^[1].

If it passes

• The 2023 levy is repealed for taxes payable in 2027 and replaced by the new levy, capped at $0.36 and $47.5M a year through 2034; the board sets the actual rate and a spending plan each October ^[2][3].
• Spending plan (estimated at a $0.2275 rate on 2027 NAV of $13.01B): $29.0M for salaries and benefits of about 275 certified staff in five buildings; $0.7M for a contract providing 13 master's-level therapists; $1.595M for SROs, a Director of School Safety, traffic and event security and safety equipment; total about $31.3M ^[24].
• Tax effect: ballot says +$700/yr for a $400,000 median home (whole rate, as if new) ^[1]. District net estimate: about +$26 in 2027 versus 2026 at the planned $0.22 rate ^[5]. Computed at the $0.36 cap versus today's $0.1995: about +$312/yr on $194,400 net AV ^[1].
• The district says it does not intend to use the maximum rate or levy during the term, and plans gradual annual increases because a fixed rate on falling net AV would shrink revenue ^[3].
• 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 ^[25]; the new supplemental homestead credit (lesser of 10% or $300) does not apply to referendum taxes ^[26].
• Charter sharing: IC 20-46-1-22 applies to referendum levies imposed for the first time with taxes first due after Dec. 31, 2027 ^[27]; this levy would begin with 2027 taxes. The HSE resolution, unlike others reviewed, contains no statement about charter distribution ^[2].

If it fails

• Nothing changes on the tax bill: the district "will continue with the current rate of $.1995," which voters approved in 2023 and which runs through 2031 ^[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 ^[31][19].)
• District: a NO "will require the district to identify further budget reductions," which "could affect staffing, programs, services and other supports" because referendum dollars mainly pay teacher salaries and safety ^[3].
• District projects the current levy will bring in more than $45 million less over 2026-2031 than planned because of SEA 1 ^[3].
• No itemized cut list 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 ^[28].

How it got on the ballot

• The Hamilton County Auditor certified the $400,000 median and $700 figure on May 28, 2026 ^[4].
• The board adopted the resolution June 10, 2026; it finds that for 2027-2034, given state distribution changes, tax-cap credits and SEA 1 deduction changes, the corporation cannot carry out its educational duty without the levy, and agrees to "levy no more than the amount needed" each year ^[2][7].
• DLGF received the resolution June 23, 2026 and approved the language the same day ^[1].
• After 2027 certified net assessed values were released, the district lowered its planned first-year rate from $0.2275 to $0.2200 ^[5].
• Board President Tiffany Pascoe: "In response to SEA-1, the Board has referred this measure to voters." ^[7]

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment: 21,599 (2018-19) to 20,633 (2025-26), -4.5% ^[15].
• Fall 2025: 194 transfers in, 775 out; 1,504 resident students used Choice scholarships ^[16].
• Certified net assessed value: $11.29B (2023) to $13.60B (2026) ^[17][18].
• Operating referendum rate history: $0.2275 (2023), $0.1895 (2024), $0.1995 (2025 and 2026); 2026 levy $27.13M. A separate referendum debt (construction) rate was $0.089 in 2026; total school rate $1.1476 ^{[17][19][20][18]}.
• District: teacher salaries and benefits are more than 97% of the 2026 referendum budget ^[3][21].
• District: HSE receives about $7,121 per student in state funding for 2025-26, ranking 370th of 376 districts and charters ^[3].
• District: more than $7 million in ongoing cost reductions identified ^[3][5]; a blog summary of IndyStar reporting says nearly 60 positions were eliminated earlier in 2026 amid declining elementary enrollment .
• LSA estimated SEA 1 net levy change for HSE: -$6.23M (2026, -4.5%), -$8.68M (2027, -6.1%), -$11.83M (2028, -8.0%) ^[23].

What came before

• Nov 10, 2009: HSE school tax levy referendum listed by DLGF at $5,500,000, passed ^[8].
• Nov 2, 2010: construction (controlled project) referendum passed, 17,039 yes (72.04%) to 6,613 no ^[9][10].
• May 2013: construction referendum passed ^[9].
• May 3, 2016: operating referendum at $0.2275 for seven years (2017-2023) passed, 23,380 yes (71.42%) to 9,356 no ^[11][12][2].
• Nov 7, 2023: extension for eight years (2024-2031) at a lower maximum of $0.1995 passed, 15,751 yes (70.04%) to 6,736 no ^[13][14].

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 project for each year 2027-2034, and when might it approach $0.36?
• What would be cut, and in what order, if the levy stays at $0.1995 through 2031?
• How do the 275 referendum-funded positions relate to the ~60 positions eliminated in 2026?
• How would a typical business or rental property owner be affected?
• What working cash balance does the referendum fund keep?

What we could not find

• Board vote count is not legible in the scanned resolution; the press release does not give a tally.
• Spending plan totals ($31.3M) are based on a $0.2275 rate; the district later planned $0.22 and no revised plan was found.
• Advance HSE PAC details come from a blog summary of paywalled IndyStar reporting; PAC registration was not checked.
• 2009 and 2013 referendum vote totals not retrieved.
• Teacher pay and cash balances not compiled.

Sources