Oregon-Davis Schools operating referendum renewal

What a vote means

A yes vote

Our calculation: about $90 a year less than today for a $150,000 median home at the full $0.19, because the rate drops from $0.29.

A no vote

The referendum tax ends with 2027 bills: $173 a year less (ballot), about $264 compared with today's rate (our calculation). The district loses about $1.05 million a year.

On the ballot

In full

Oregon-Davis is asking voters to continue its operating referendum for eight more years, but at a lower maximum rate: 19 cents per $100 instead of the 29 cents approved in 2018, and no more than $800,000 a year. The current levy is authorized only through 2026, so this is the district's one chance to avoid a lapse: if it fails, the referendum tax ends with 2027 bills and the next possible vote is November 2028. The district plans to put all of the estimated $685,832 a year toward staff pay, benefits, recruitment and retention.

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.19 per $100 of assessed value, down from the $0.29 maximum approved in 2018 ^[1][2]

Most it could raise a year

$800,000 ^[1][2]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

The 2018 operating referendum (max $0.29), which DLGF certified as permitted through 2026; it was $0.29 and $1,046,797 in 2026. A yes vote continues a referendum levy for 2027-2034 at the lower maximum ^[1][8][17]

On a median home

$150,000 (median household assessed value certified by the Starke County Auditor, rounded up to the next $50,000) ^[1] — Ballot: if NOT approved, a $150,000 median home's bill would fall by $173 a year ^[1]. Net change vs. today (our calculation, assuming the same net assessed value and the full rate each year): the ballot's $173 equals the cost of $0.19; at today's $0.29 the same home pays roughly $264, so a YES vote at the full $0.19 would cut that home's referendum tax by roughly $90 a year from 2027, and a NO vote would end it (about $264 less) ^[1][17]

If it passes

• A referendum levy continues for 2027-2034 at up to $0.19 and $800,000 a year ^[1][2]
• Spending plan: the full estimated $685,832 a year for staff compensation, benefits, recruitment and retention; no charter distribution ^[3]
• Taxpayers would pay less than today for the referendum: the maximum rate drops from $0.29 to $0.19 (roughly $90 a year less for a $150,000 median home at full rates, our calculation) ^[1][17]
• Referendum taxes are outside the 1%/2%/3% caps; a levy first imposed in 2027 is not covered by the statewide charter-sharing rule ^[4][21]

If it fails

• Timing: the 2018 levy is authorized only through 2026, so the referendum tax would end with 2027 bills; the ballot puts the decrease at $173 a year for a $150,000 median home (at today’s $0.29 rate the drop would be larger, roughly $264, our calculation) ^[1][8][17]
• The district would lose its referendum revenue ($1,046,797 in 2026) for at least 2027 and 2028 ^[17][21]
• The district has not published a list of cuts for 2026; in 2018 it said that without referendum revenue it would have to reduce programs and curriculum ^[12]
• Retry: the next possible vote is November 2028 (general elections only; 700-day wait after a defeat, 350 with a petition), with a new levy no earlier than 2029, which could be subject to charter sharing if at least 100 resident students (or 2% of ADM) attend brick-and-mortar charters ^[21]

How it got on the ballot

• May 20, 2026: the board and administration presented the district’s future financial outlook and discussed a possible operating referendum, with time for public questions ^[13]
• June 10, 2026: a resolution requesting a referendum was on the board agenda ^[14]
• June 16, 2026: the board adopted the extension resolution and spending plan (Resolution F02-26); the secretary’s certification is dated June 17. The vote count was not found ^[2][3]
• The resolution states that no referendum money will go to charter schools and directs 'Members of the Board, the Superintendent and the Treasurer... to take all steps necessary and prudent to gain passage of this resolution' ^[2]
• June 17, 2026: DLGF received the resolution; June 22: DLGF received the Starke County Auditor certification and approved the ballot language ^[1]
• July 15, 2026: the board considered a resolution allocating the effects of the new Supplemental Homestead Credit ^[23]

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 545 in 2017-18, 478 in 2021-22, 532 in 2023-24, 527 in 2024-25, 503 in 2025-26 ^[18]
• Fall 2025 transfers (IDOE): 649 state-funded resident students; 139 transferred in, 310 transferred out, 9 Choice vouchers; net -180 ^[19]
• Referendum levy (certified budget orders): $0.2900 and $691,123 (2022); $0.2900 and $829,133 (2023); $0.2730 and $853,995 (2024); $0.2526 and $904,938 (2025); $0.2900 and $1,046,797 (2026) ^[16][17]
• Net assessed value $238.3M (2022) to $361.0M (2026); total school tax rate $1.2447 (2022) to $0.9156 (2026) ^[16][17]
• At the new $0.19 maximum, 2026 assessed value would raise about $686,000, matching the spending plan estimate of $685,832, about $361,000 (34%) less than the 2026 levy (our calculation) ^[3][17]
• 2027 budget notice (Sept. 3, 2026): referendum fund budget $1,062,792 with an advertised maximum levy of $973,539 (7% below the current levy); operations fund advertised levy $3,701,779 vs. $1,382,493 current; property tax cap credit estimate $105,300 ^[15]
• SEA 1 (2025), LSA estimate: net levies $170,880 lower in 2026, $246,460 lower in 2027 and $357,760 lower in 2028 than under prior law (-4.9%, -6.7%, -9.2%) ^[20]
• Safety: $84,280 Secured School Safety Grant in 2026; the district funds a school resource officer and its own police department from grants and local money ^[22]

What came before

• May 8, 2012: first operating referendum, up to $0.19 for seven years. PASSED 701 yes to 383 no (64.7%), by our sum of the four precinct reports (Davis, Oregon 1-3); DLGF lists it as passed ^[5][6][9]
• May 8, 2018: referendum for up to $0.29 for eight years 'for the purpose of funding current and future educational and operational expenditures', replacing the 19-cent levy that was due to expire in 2019. PASSED 447 to 284 (61.1% by the precinct reports; WKVI reported 61.5%) ^[7][10][11]
• In 2018 Superintendent Don Harman said about 200 students had left in 10 years, largely because families left for jobs; that the district had cut staff, bus routes and maintenance and frozen wages; and that without the referendum it would need $1.8 million in loans or bonds ^[12]
• DLGF's 2018 certification: about $630,022 at $0.29 in 2019, with the levy permitted through 2026 ^[8]
• No construction referendum by Oregon-Davis appears in DLGF lists ^[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

• What would the district cut in 2027 if the referendum levy lapses?
• Why is the new maximum lower ($0.19, $800,000) than the current levy, and how will the district cover the roughly $361,000 difference?
• Why does the 2027 budget notice advertise a referendum levy of $973,539 when the ballot caps it at $800,000?
• How many staff positions does the referendum pay for?
• What rate does the board expect to set each year?

What we could not find

• No district referendum web page, FAQ or presentation was found; board minutes for May 20 and June 16, 2026 were not found online.
• Board vote count on the June 16 resolution was not found.
• The 2012 and 2018 totals are our sums of the four Starke County precinct reports for Oregon and Davis townships; certified district-wide canvass documents were not located.
• The resolution says it was adopted June 16; the secretary’s certificate says June 17.
• Per-home dollar figures other than the ballot’s $173 are our proportional calculation, not a district or auditor estimate.
• Teacher salary and cash balance data were not reviewed.

Sources