Oak Hill United Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

Adds up to $198 a year for a $150,000 median home (ballot). The district plans to collect less than half the maximum in 2027, so the first-year cost may be lower.

A no vote

No new tax; current rates stay. No district list of reductions was found.

On the ballot

In full

Oak Hill United schools are asking voters for a new operating property tax of up to 33.32 cents per $100 of assessed value, capped at about $1.63 million a year, for eight years (2027-2034). The district ties the request to lower property tax revenue under SEA 1 (2025) and rising costs. Its spending plan for 2027 projects about $715,000 in collections, mainly for school nurses and a resource officer, bus supplies and maintenance, staff pay and career-center tuition. This is Oak Hill's first operating referendum; a 2011 building referendum was defeated by about 82%.

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.3332 per $100 of assessed value ^[1][2]

Most it could raise a year

$1,627,112 ^[1][2]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

None. Oak Hill has no operating referendum in effect; this would be a new levy for 2027-2034 ^[1][2]

On a median home

$150,000 (certified by both the Miami and Grant County auditors) ^[1][3] — +$198 a year at the maximum rate ^[1][3]. The district's spending plan projects collecting about $715,467 in 2027, less than half the maximum levy, so the first-year bill increase may be lower than the ballot figure^[2]. 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 $198 a year if the full $0.3332 rate is levied (our reading of the DLGF rate table). ^[1][7]

If it passes

• Ballot figure: +$198 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][7]
• Levy of up to $0.3332 per $100 and $1,627,112 a year for 2027-2034 ^[1]
• 2027 spending plan (estimated $715,467 collected): Health and safety $225,500 (safety $95,000 including a school resource officer $56,727, visitor-management, door-entry, Securly and Vector services; health $130,500 for four nurse salaries); teachers and staff $72,967 (a 1% raise on a $5.6 million post-negotiation salary base is $56,000, plus $16,967 other); class sizes and student transportation $300,000 (2026 transportation supplies and maintenance); academic and support programs $117,000 (Grant Regional Career Center $72,000; Heartland Career Center $45,000 for 9 students) ^[2]
• The plan says it will be amended each year to match needed revenue ^[2]
• The resolution says Oak Hill does not plan to share the levy with charters; mandatory statewide sharing (IC 20-46-1-22) applies only to levies first imposed for taxes due in 2028 or later ^[2][11]

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. ^[7]
• No new tax. The district has not published a specific reduction list in the sources reviewed
• The ballot purposes indicate the items at stake: school resource officers and nurses, staff retention, class sizes, student transportation and academic programs ^[1][2]
• Next allowed attempt: November 2028 general election ^[11]

How it got on the ballot

• May 11, 2026: the school board passed a resolution allowing the district to talk with the county auditor about a possible operating referendum (Chronicle-Tribune; only free lines read) ^[8]
• June 22, 2026: the Board of School Trustees adopted the Referendum Tax Levy Resolution and revenue spending plan; the vote count is not shown in the filed copy ^[2]. A meeting summary describes a special meeting vote and cites SEA 1, declining taxable value and rising costs
• The Miami County Auditor (Annette Phillippo) and Grant County Auditor (Angie Jarvis) certified the $150,000 median home and +$198 in June 2026 ^[3]
• DLGF received the resolution June 30, 2026 and approved the language the same day (No. 26-009-REF) ^[1]

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 1,725 in 2018-19 and 1,504 in 2025-26 (-12.8%) ^[9]
• Fall 2025 transfers (IDOE): 1,196 state-funded resident students; 441 transferred in, 134 out, 25 Choice vouchers; net +282 ^[10]
• Charters: 15 resident students attended charters in fall 2025, mostly virtual; below the statewide sharing threshold ^[10][11]
• Net assessed value (both counties): $321.7 million (2022) to $475.5 million (2026), +48% ^[7]
• 2026 certified school tax rate $1.2684 per $100: Debt Service $0.6999, Operations $0.5685; no referendum rate ^[7]
• Circuit breaker losses, 2026 (Grant County portion): $200,606 of the $2,124,414 Operations levy (9.4%) ^[13]
• SEA 1 (2025) LSA estimate: Grant portion -$181,300 (2026), -$199,310 (2027), -$334,540 (2028, -7.1%); Miami portion -$51,820, -$56,580, -$96,150 (2028, -7.9%) ^[14]
• Mississinewa's Dec 2025 presentation lists Oak Hill's 2024-25 Operations levy per student at $1,380, with 30% of students out of district ^[15]
• Teacher pay and fund balances were not located

What came before

• May 3, 2011: construction referendum to lease-finance a new elementary school, not more than $28,400,000, raising the debt rate by up to $0.8723. FAILED: Grant County 330 yes / 1,552 no; Miami County 100 yes / 457 no; total 430 yes / 2,009 no (82.4% no) ^[4][5]
• No operating referendum by Oak Hill appears in DLGF's historic lists ^[6]
• Debt service remains a large part of the district's rate: $0.6999 per $100 in 2026 ^[7]

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

• The ballot allows $1.63 million a year but the 2027 plan uses about $715,000; what would the rest be used for, and in what year would the district levy the maximum?
• What rate will the board actually set for 2027 (14.79 cents was reported), and what does that mean for a $150,000 home?
• Which nurse, SRO or bus costs are now paid from the Operations or Education fund, and what would be cut first if the referendum fails?
• How much is transferred in from other districts (441 students) and how does that affect revenue and costs?
• What are the current fund balances and the projected deficit for 2027-2028?

What we could not find

• June 22, 2026 vote count not in the filed resolution; Chronicle-Tribune coverage of the vote is paywalled (a search snippet reported 5-0; not verified)
• No district referendum web page was found or loaded (the district site timed out)
• Citizen Portal meeting summary is an automated summary; only its free teaser was read
• Specific consequences of a NO vote were not published in the sources reviewed
• Superintendent Dr. Sheri Hardman's public statements could not be read (Chronicle-Tribune paywalled); none are quoted

Sources