Mississinewa Community Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

Adds up to $294 a year for a $150,000 median home (ballot); the district projects about $250 for the average homeowner. No referendum tax is on bills now.

A no vote

No new tax. Under a February 2026 board resolution, the district says it would cancel a large portion of its bus routes.

On the ballot

In full

Mississinewa Community Schools is asking voters, for the first time, to approve an operating property tax of up to 49.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, raising up to $2 million a year for eight years (2027-2034). The district says SEA 1 (2025) and tax-cap losses will cut its Operations Fund by about $1.5 million a year by 2028-2029, from an already low base. Half of the planned money ($1 million a year) is for student transportation: in February 2026 the board voted to end its bus program after the 2026-27 school year if a referendum does not pass.

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.4950 per $100 of assessed value ^[1][2]

Most it could raise a year

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

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

None. This is the district's first operating referendum request; no prior Mississinewa referendum appears in DLGF's historic lists ^[1][6][7]

On a median home

$150,000 (Grant County Auditor certification) ^[1][3] — +$294 a year on the ballot ^[1]. The district's website separately says the 'average homeowner impact' is projected at about $250 a year (about $21 a month); the certified ballot figure is $294 ^[4] 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 $294 a year if the full $0.4950 rate is levied (our reading of the DLGF rate table). ^[1][14]

If it passes

• Ballot figure: +$294 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][14]
• Levy of up to $0.4950 per $100 and $2.0 million a year for 2027-2034 ^[1]
• Revenue spending plan: student transportation $1,000,000; school security upgrades $500,000; retaining teachers and staff (including co-/extracurricular support) $500,000 a year ^[2]
• District: the referendum 'is not about adding new programs or buildings' and money cannot be used for new buildings or major construction ^[4]
• The resolution says MCSC does not plan to share the levy with charter schools; mandatory statewide sharing (IC 20-46-1-22) applies only to levies first imposed for taxes due in 2028 or later ^[2][11]
• District says funds are subject to state audits and it plans annual public reports ^[4]

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. ^[14]
• The board's February 2026 transportation resolution would take effect: the district says it 'will be forced to cancel a large portion of its transportation system, including many bus routes that families rely on every day' (district website); the Dec 2025 presentation said busing could not be maintained after the 2026-27 school year ^[4][5]
• Students with IEPs would still be transported as required by law ^[5]
• The district lists further cuts: fewer teachers, aides and support staff, larger classes, fewer courses and extracurriculars, fewer intervention programs, and deferred maintenance on roofs, parking lots and HVAC, which it says 'would become the new baseline' ^[4]
• Next allowed attempt: November 2028 general election ^[11]

How it got on the ballot

• Dec 1, 2025: the superintendent presented 'SEA 1 Impacts & Potential Cancellation of Transportation Resolution 27-28 School Year', saying that without a passed operating referendum in November 2026 'MCSC cannot maintain transportation after the 26-27 school year' and that state law (IC 20-27-13-3) requires one year's public notice before ending busing ^[5]
• February 2026: the board 'voted unanimously... in favor of cutting the district's transportation program,' with changes possible 'within the next two years' (Chronicle-Tribune; only free lines read) ^[8]
• The Chronicle-Tribune reported the district dropped plans for a capital (building) referendum and instead weighed three operating-referendum options (only free lines read) ^[9]
• June 15, 2026: the Board of School Trustees adopted the Referendum Tax Levy Resolution and revenue spending plan at the Hengstler Administration Building, Gas City; the posted minutes excerpt leaves the roll call blank ^[2]
• The Grant County Auditor certified the $150,000 median home and +$294 ^[3]
• DLGF received the resolution July 1, 2026 and approved the language July 2, 2026 (No. 26-022-REF) ^[1]

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 2,466 in 2018-19 and 2,283 in 2025-26 (-7.4%) ^[12]
• Fall 2025 transfers (IDOE): 1,727 state-funded resident students; 596 transferred in, 140 out, 32 Choice vouchers; net +424 ^[13]
• Charters: 8 resident students attended charters in fall 2025, all virtual; far below the threshold for statewide charter sharing ^[13][11]
• Net assessed value: $247.5 million (2022) to $360.7 million (2026), +46% ^[14]
• 2026 certified school tax rate $1.4051 per $100: Debt Service $0.6818, Operations $0.7233; no referendum rate ^[14]
• Circuit breaker losses, 2026: $435,080 of the $2,608,714 Operations Fund levy (16.7%) ^[15]
• District projection (Dec 2025): Operations Fund circuit-breaker loss growing from $420,200 (2026) to $637,100 (2027) and $1,401,700 (2028), leaving a net Operations levy of about $1.42 million in 2028 versus $2.9 million without the losses; about $636 per student versus a state average of $1,584 ^[5]
• District comparison (2024-25, pre-SEA 1): Operations levy per student $865 at Mississinewa, lowest in Grant County (Marion $2,640, Eastbrook $1,708, Oak Hill $1,380, Madison-Grant $1,009) ^[5]
• The district says Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts in Gas City 'already limit the growth of the district's taxable assessed value', compounding SEA 1 ^[4]
• SEA 1 (2025) LSA estimate: net levy -$195,040 (2026), -$190,170 (2027), -$819,870 (2028, -17.1%) versus prior law ^[16]
• District: transportation costs about $1.2 million a year; even if cut, it must still transport students with IEPs, so the 'best case' savings are about $700,000-$800,000 ^[5]

What came before

• No prior operating or construction referendum by Mississinewa appears in DLGF's historic referendum lists; Chalkbeat lists Mississinewa among five districts seeking a property tax increase for the first time in 2026 ^[6][7][10]
• The district says it has 'worked strategically to control costs, absorb staffing through attrition, and make responsible financial decisions' ^[4]
• In its Dec 2025 presentation the district said it tightened out-of-district enrollment at the community's request, enrolling 162 fewer students, which it estimated cost about $250,000 in Education Fund money, and that it already transfers the 15% maximum from the Education Fund to Operations ^[5]
• The same presentation says the state Distressed Unit Appeal Board (DUAB) contacted the district for five-year cash-flow projections because of SEA 1's impact ^[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

• If the referendum fails, exactly which routes, walk zones and activity trips would end, and when would families be told?
• Why does the ballot show $294 for a $150,000 home while the district site cites about $250?
• What did DUAB's review of the five-year cash-flow projection conclude?
• How will the $500,000 for 'school security upgrades' be spent each year, and is it one-time or ongoing?
• How many students would still be bused (IEP and others) under the cancellation plan?

What we could not find

• Exact date and text of the February 2026 transportation-cancellation resolution not read (Chronicle-Tribune paywalled; board portal not accessed)
• June 15, 2026 roll-call vote not shown in the filed minutes
• Teacher pay and fund balances not located
• No independent check of the district's per-student levy comparison

Sources