Noblesville Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

District estimate: about $1.88 a month more (about $23 a year) on average over 8 years for a $350,000 home, counting the expiring levy and SEA 1 credits.

A no vote

The 2018 levy ends after 2026, along with about $25 million a year (20% of the operating budget). The median home pays about $619 a year less (our computation).

On the ballot

The question as it is printed, word for word.

Shall Noblesville Schools increase property taxes paid to the school corporation for no more than eight (8) years for the purpose of funding safety and security measures in all buildings and maintaining and enhancing academic and educationally-related programs in response to reductions in property tax revenue by imposing a property tax rate that does not exceed $0.57 and results in a maximum annual amount that does not exceed $43,842,578. If this operating referendum public question is approved by the voters, for a median residence of $350,000, the property's annual property tax bill would increase by $955 per year.

In full

Noblesville's 2018 operating referendum ($0.37 per $100, about $25 million a year, roughly 20% of the operating budget) expires at the end of 2026, and the district asks voters to approve a new eight-year levy of up to $0.57 and $43.8 million a year for 2027-2034 ^[3][1]. The district says a higher maximum rate is needed to raise a comparable amount because SEA 1 shrinks taxable value ^[3]. An Aug. 18 board resolution caps the 2027 rate at $0.385 and later increases at $0.04 a year ^[7]. Unlike its neighbors, a NO here ends referendum funding: the district has published a list of possible cuts including about 20% of staff and closing an elementary school ^[8].

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.57 per $100 of net assessed value ^[1]

Most it could raise a year

$43,842,578 ^[1]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

Succeeds the Nov 2018 operating referendum ($0.37), which expires at the end of 2026 (last levied for 2026 taxes). The ballot carries no prior-referendum sentence because the last vote was more than five years ago ^[2][3][1].

On a median home

$350,000 (gross AV $335,800 rounded up; net AV $167,400 after deductions) ^[4] — (1) Ballot figure: +$955 per year at the full $0.57 rate, as if no referendum existed ^[1][4]. (2) Net vs. today (district estimate): an average of about $1.88 more per month (about $23 a year) over the eight years for a $350,000 home, accounting for the expiring levy and SEA 1 credits; earlier district releases said $2.30 a month ^[3][5][6]. (3) Computed by this study on $167,400 net AV: about +$25 in 2027 at the board's $0.385 cap for 2027, and about +$335 a year if the full $0.57 were ever levied, versus today's $0.37 ^[4][7].

If it passes

• New levy for 2027-2034, capped at $0.57 and $43,842,578 a year; under the Aug. 18 resolution the 2027 rate is at most $0.385 and increases are limited to $0.04 a year ^[1][7].
• Spending plan, 2027 estimated collection $26,305,832: safety and security (SROs, mental health and behavioral supports, safety capital) $3,714,012; academic programs (class sizes, career and technical education, teacher recruitment and retention, literacy) $16,764,783; educationally related programs (transportation, extracurriculars, support services) $5,827,037 ^[25].
• Tax effect: ballot says +$955/yr for a $350,000 median home (whole $0.57 rate, as if new) ^[1]. District net estimate: about $1.88 a month more on average over eight years than today ^[3]. Computed: about +$25 in 2027 at $0.385; up to about +$335/yr at $0.57 versus today's $0.37 ^[4][7].
• 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 ^[26]; the new supplemental homestead credit (lesser of 10% or $300) does not apply to referendum taxes ^[27].
• 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 ^[28]. 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 ^[10]. A renewal after 2034 would fall under the sharing rule.

If it fails

• The 2018 levy ends with 2026 taxes, so from 2027 there would be no referendum levy: about $25 million a year (about 20% of the operating budget) would end ^[3][5].
• Tax effect computed by this study: a $350,000 median home (net AV $167,400) would stop paying about $619 a year in referendum tax (0.37 x $167,400) ^[4][21].
• District list of cuts "most at risk" (no decisions made): about 20% staffing cuts, e.g., 145 teachers, 45 instructional assistants, 24 bus drivers, 24 maintenance/custodial staff; reduced or eliminated STEM and career courses, elementary specials, arts, athletics, librarians, SROs, counselors and bus routes; closing one elementary school with district-wide redistricting; elementary class sizes about 25% larger (about 30 students) ^[8].
• Hile: "Ultimately, we will respect whatever decision Noblesville voters make." ^[8]
• 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 ^[29].

How it got on the ballot

• May 19, 2026: Superintendent Dan Hile presented a financial analysis to the board, saying "the funding gap continues to grow" ^[9].
• June 9, 2026: the board adopted the referendum resolution and spending plan, finding the corporation cannot carry out its educational duty in 2027-2034 without a levy ^[10][5].
• DLGF received the resolution June 10 and approved the language June 22, 2026 ^[1].
• Aug. 18, 2026: the board adopted a rate-schedule resolution: no maximum each year, increases of no more than $0.04 a year, and a 2027 rate of no more than $0.3850 ($0.015 above the 2018 rate) ^[7].
• The district says it certified the ballot before the latest assessed values and "now think[s] we will not need to take 57 cents at all" ^[3].

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment: 10,611 (2018-19) to 10,348 (2025-26), -2.5% ^[18].
• Fall 2025: 71 transfers in, 755 out; 679 resident students used Choice scholarships ^[19].
• Certified net assessed value: $5.26B (2023) to $6.67B (2026) ^[20][21].
• Operating referendum rate: $0.37 (2023), $0.3466 (2024), $0.3401 (2025), $0.37 (2026, levy $24.66M); total school rate $1.251 in 2026 ^{[20][22][23][21]}.
• District: Noblesville is in the bottom 6% of the state funding formula and lost $41.5 million to tax caps from 2015-2025 ^[3].
• District: recent cuts of about $4 million, including 6% of administrative leadership positions and an administrator salary freeze ^[3][6].
• LSA estimated SEA 1 net levy change: -$3.38M (2026, -4.7%), -$4.55M (2027, -6.1%), -$6.24M (2028, -7.9%) ^[24].

What came before

• May 4, 2010: two Noblesville Schools questions passed: an operating levy at $0.2115 and a construction (controlled) project; the county summary lists them as Public Question 1 (7,070 yes, 62.52%) and Question 2 (6,870 yes, 60.48%) ^[11][12][13].
• May 2013: construction referendum passed ^[12].
• May 3, 2016: operating referendum at $0.189 for seven years passed, 13,677 yes (72.98%) to 5,065 no; the district gave up the last year of the 2010 levy ^[14][15].
• Nov 6, 2018: operating referendum at $0.37 for eight years (2019-2026) passed; DLGF estimated about $13.44M in 2019; it replaced the 2016 levy and was presented as $50 million over eight years for safety, mental health and teacher pay ^[16][2][3]. The superintendent said it passed "by a margin of 59%" ^[17].

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

• Which cuts on the published list would come first, and when, if the levy ends after 2026?
• What rate does the board project for 2028-2034 under the $0.04-per-year limit?
• How was the $1.88-per-month average calculated, and for which home values could the increase be larger?
• What happened to collections above the $50 million projected for the 2018 referendum?
• If an elementary school closed, which one and how would redistricting work?

What we could not find

• Board vote count on June 9 and Aug. 18 not legible in the scanned documents.
• Certified 2018 vote totals not retrieved (Hamilton County 2018 pages blocked); 59% is the superintendent's figure.
• Mapping of 2010 Public Questions 1 and 2 to the operating vs. construction questions not confirmed.
• Dates of the district cuts post are not shown on the page; it says the list was shared at the Chamber State of the Schools presentation.
• Teacher pay and cash balances not compiled.

Sources