Washington Township schools operating referendum renewal

What a vote means

A yes vote

The same $0.25 rate has been on bills every year since 2022, so the referendum rate does not change (DLGF certified rates).

A no vote

The 2020 levy is expected to run through 2028 and then end: $351 a year less for a $300,000 median home (ballot). The district may reduce staff, enlarge classes and cut programs.

On the ballot

In full

Washington Township is asking voters to renew the 25-cent operating referendum they approved in June 2020, for another eight years, with the annual amount capped at $24 million. The district says the money pays for about 300 positions, including teachers, counselors, school resource officers and support staff. It is asking now, before the 2020 levy runs out, because of SEA 1 tax changes and because school referendums are now limited to even-year November elections. As a Marion County district it must share a small part (about $358,000 projected for 2027) with participating charter schools ^[1][2][3].

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.25 per $100 of assessed value (same as the 2020 rate) ^[1]

Most it could raise a year

$24,000,000 ^[1]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

Repeals and replaces the June 2020 operating referendum ($0.25 per $100, authorized for the eight calendar years after the 2020 vote) ^[1][4]

On a median home

$300,000 (Marion County Auditor certification) ^[1] — Ballot figure (renewal form): if NOT approved, a $300,000 median home's bill would decrease by $351 a year once the existing levy ends ^[1][3]. Net change vs. today if approved (our reading of DLGF certified rates, which show $0.25 levied every year 2022-2026): no change in the referendum rate, since the renewal keeps the same $0.25 maximum ^[1][13]

On other property

No separate business, rental or farm estimate was published; referendum taxes apply to all taxable property outside the 1%/2%/3% caps ^[15]

If it passes

• Spending plan (annual, $24 million estimate): retaining teachers and staffing for improved student safety $16,549,526 (70%); student support services $3,546,327 (15%); expanded academic programming for the new diploma requirements $3,546,327 (15%) ^[2].
• About 300 positions depend on the renewal, according to the district ^[3].
• Projected 2027 split: $23,642,180 to the district and $357,820 to participating charter schools (about 1.5%), including Christel House Academy West, Herron Classical, Indiana Math and Science Academy (North and main), Irvington Community, Options, Victory College Prep and others ^[2].
• The district says the referendum line on tax bills would stay the same; total bills can still change with assessed values. Referendum taxes are outside the 1/2/3% caps ^[3][15].
• From 2028, charters with Washington Township students would be included automatically unless they opt out (district description of the law) ^[3][17].

If it fails

• Ballot: a $300,000 median home's annual bill would fall $351 once the levy ends ^[1].
• District: 'The funding expires' and the district 'may need to: Reduce staff; Increase class sizes; Cut programs or services' ^[3].
• Timing: the 2020 question authorized the rate for the eight calendar years after the 2020 vote (2021-2028), so the existing levy appears to continue through 2028 if the renewal fails; the district's materials reviewed do not state the end date. A new question could next appear in November 2028 ^[4][18]. 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 ^[17][19].

How it got on the ballot

• June 10, 2026: the Board of Education adopted resolutions placing the renewal on the ballot (district) ^[3].
• DLGF received the resolution and Marion County Auditor certification June 15, 2026 and approved the question under the renewal form (IC 20-46-1-10.1) on June 23, 2026 ^[1].
• District reasons: recent legislation (SEA 1) has made it harder to generate needed revenue while transportation, utility and insurance costs have risen; Washington Township is 'now required to share a portion of locally approved referendum dollars with charter schools' ^[3].
• Charter spending plans attached to the filing quote an earlier draft of the question ($20 million cap, $350,000 median home); the DLGF-approved question uses $24 million and $300,000 ^[2].

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 11,140 (2018-19), 10,888 (2020-21), 10,512 (2022-23), 10,735 (2023-24), 11,391 (2024-25), 11,325 (2025-26) ^[10].
• Students living in Washington Township (fall 2025): 12,215 state-funded residents; 1,112 transferred in and 921 out (404 to charter schools); 1,356 used Choice Scholarships ^[11].
• About 46% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch; about 40% are Black and 22% Hispanic (Chalkbeat) ^[12].
• Tax rates (DLGF certified): referendum $0.25 every year 2022-2026, levy $16.66M (2022) to $21.21M (2026); Operations $0.3904 ($32.19M); capital referendum debt $0.3614 ($30.66M); debt service $0.1185. Net assessed value $6.57B (2022) to $8.25B (2026) ^[13].
• 2027 advertised budget notice: estimated property tax cap credits $1.91 million against a $34.1 million maximum operating levy (a much smaller cap loss than other Marion County districts in this set); referendum fund to be raised $22.2 million ^[14].
• SEA 1-2025 estimate (LSA, House-amended version): net levy -$3.06M (2026), -$4.14M (2027), -$6.11M (2028, -6.3%) versus prior law ^[16].
• Employees: nearly 1,800, about 1,000 of whom live in the district (district) ^[3].
• Teacher pay and cash balances were not found in sources reviewed.

What came before

• May 4, 2010: operating referendum, $0.08 per $100. PASSED (DLGF) ^[4].
• Nov 8, 2016: operating referendum, $0.11 per $100 for 7 years, and a $185 million construction referendum. Both PASSED: operating 28,841 yes to 11,969 no; construction 27,648 yes to 12,028 no ^[4][5][6].
• June 2, 2020 (pandemic-delayed primary): operating referendum, $0.25 per $100 for 8 years (up from 11 cents), about $16 million a year for counselors, behavior specialists, social-emotional staff and teacher pay; it replaced the 2016 levy. PASSED (DLGF certified); early election-night returns favored it ^[4][7][8].
• June 2, 2020: $285 million construction referendum (new Northview Middle School and renovations), the largest school construction referendum in state history at the time. PASSED (DLGF certified); early election-night returns favored it ^[8][9].
• 2020 opposition: some residents said it was the wrong time to raise taxes during the pandemic, and one asked state lawmakers to postpone the vote ^[20]. Opponents also called the request 'obscene' and 'tone deaf,' in part because voters had approved two referendums in 2016 ^[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

• If the renewal fails, does the 2020 levy continue through 2028, and when exactly would the $351 decrease begin?
• Which of the roughly 300 positions would be cut first without the renewal?
• How will the charter share change from 2028, when charters are included unless they opt out?
• How is spending on the three listed purposes reported to the public each year?

What we could not find

• The board's June 10, 2026 resolution and vote count were not in the DLGF filing (only member names appear).
• Certified 2020 vote totals were not retrieved; DLGF lists both 2020 questions as passed (certified).
• District-published end year for the 2020 levy if the renewal fails was not found; the 2021-2028 range is inferred from the 2020 ballot wording.
• Teacher salaries and fund balances not found.

Sources