Civic
Every race on your ballot, with sources. Races by stateJoin the Luminary network

School renewal · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

River Forest Schools operating referendum renewal

Renew the 2019 operating referendum for 8 years (2027-2034) at up to $0.9912 per $100 (down from $1.19) and $3 million a year. On ballots in River Forest Community School Corporation.

Who votes on it: Registered voters who live within the River Forest Community School Corporation boundaries (parts of Hobart Township, Lake Station and Hobart, Lake County)

Find your exact ballotAll Indiana races

What a vote means

A yes vote
The maximum rate is lower than today's: roughly $118 a year less at the maximum for the median home (our computation).
A no vote
The 2019 levy runs through 2027 and then ends: $589 a year less for the median home (ballot).

On the ballot

Read the question as it is printed, word for word
Shall the River Forest Community School Corporation continue to increase property taxes paid to the School Corporation for no more than eight (8) years for the purpose of sustaining educational and operational funding stability in response to reductions in property tax revenue, maintaining student transportation, supporting and retaining teachers and staff, and supporting essential health and safety initiatives, including the retention of school resource officers by imposing a property tax rate that does not exceed $0.9912 and results in a maximum annual amount that does not exceed $3,000,000. If this operating referendum public question is NOT approved by the voters, for a median residence of $150,000, the property's annual tax bill would decrease by $589 per year. If this operating referendum public question is approved by the voters, it would be a renewal of the most recent operating referendum public question passed in 2019 with a property tax rate of $1.19.

In full

River Forest, which has relied on a voter-approved operating levy since 2015, asks voters to renew it for 2027-2034 at a lower maximum rate (99.12 cents per $100, down from $1.19) and up to $3 million a year, adding student transportation and school resource officers to its stated purposes. The current levy approved in 2019 runs through 2027. If voters say no, the auditor-certified median homeowner would pay $589 a year less once the levy ends, and the district would lose about $3 million a year, roughly the size of its referendum fund.

What is being asked for

Most it could charge
$0.9912 per $100 (down from the 2019 maximum of $1.19) [1]
Most it could raise a year
$3,000,000 [1]
For how long
8 years
What it replaces
Renews the May 2019 operating referendum (max $1.19, eight calendar years, i.e., 2020-2027 levies) [1][4]. The resolution covers 2027 through 2034 [3].
On a median home
$150,000 (Lake County Auditor certification) [1] — Ballot figure: if NO, a median home's bill 'would decrease by $589 per year' [1]. Net vs. today if YES: the maximum rate falls from $1.19 to $0.9912 (-$0.1988). Our computation, applying that difference in the same proportion as the auditor's $589, suggests a YES would be roughly $118 a year LOWER at the maximum than at the old maximum for the median home; the district has not published its own net figure (computed by us; actual change depends on the rate levied and SEA 1 deductions).

If it passes

  • Levy continues 2027-2034 at up to $0.9912 / $3,000,000 a year [1][3].
  • This uses the renewal ('continue to increase') form; the resolution says the district 'continues to annually impose a referendum tax levy at the rate [that] shall not exceed $0.9912... starting in 2027 through and including 2034' and the ballot says it 'would be a renewal' of the 2019 question. The resolution has no separate repeal clause for the 2019 levy's last year (2027) [3][1].
  • Planned uses: funding stability $1.28M, transportation $1.10M, teachers/staff $0.55M, safety/SROs $0.05M [2].
  • Taxes: the referendum portion continues, at a lower maximum than today; see median_home for the ballot's $589 figure and our approximate net comparison [1].
  • Referendum taxes are outside the caps [5].

If it fails

  • Nothing changes for the 2027 tax year: the 2019 levy (up to $1.19) runs through 2027 (based on the 2019 question's eight calendar years) [4]. No statute says a failed renewal ends an approved levy early, and DLGF practice after failed renewals in Hammond and Lake Station (Nov 2023) was to keep 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, and no DLGF memo or court ruling on it was found [15][16].
  • From 2028 the referendum levy would end and the median-home bill would drop by about $589 a year (ballot) [1].
  • The district would lose about $3 million a year (its full referendum fund); no official cut list was found. Board President Kissel said 'there are people's livelihoods at stake if this doesn't pass' [6].
  • Re-try: no new referendum for 700 days (350 with a petition) and only at a general election: November 2028, which is before the 2019 levy's final year ends [5][15].

How it got on the ballot

  • July 1, 2026 special meeting: the board adopted Operating Referendum Authorizing Resolution #26-06 by a 5-0 vote (motion Perez, second Bucko) [3][6].
  • Presentation 'Referendum Consideration' (Samantha Berrier): circuit-breaker losses of $283,980 (2018) and $870,566 (2026), 'over $1,500,000 per year' from 2028; 'Operations has less funding today than we had in 2018'; 'By 2028 we will have 60% of the funding we had in 2025'; funding 'will not cover Nipsco services' [6].
  • Superintendent Kevin Trezak described it as asking 'for less money from our taxpayers' and said 'For over 10 years River Forest has been a referendum corporation' [6].
  • DLGF received the resolution July 6, 2026 and approved it July 7, 2026 (No. 26-038-REF) [1].
  • Spending plan: $3,000,000 a year: funding stability $1,283,354; student transportation $1,100,000; teachers and staff $550,000; health and safety including SROs $50,000; charter shares to Discover Charter School $12,947 and Options Schools, Inc. $3,699 [2].

The district's own numbers

  • Enrollment: 1,663 (2018-19) to 1,693 (2025-26), +1.8% [12].
  • Fall 2025: 498 transfers in, 114 transfers out, 56 Choice Scholarship students with legal settlement (IDOE transfer report, as compiled) [13].
  • 2026 certified rates: Debt Service $0.7484, Operations $0.7300, Referendum $1.19 (school total $2.6684); CNAV $265.6 million (up 22% from $217.4 million in 2023) [10].
  • LSA estimate (SEA 1): net levy -$248,980 (2026, -4.1%), -$400,680 (2027, -6.2%), -$986,850 (2028, -14.4%) vs. prior law [14].
  • Operations Fund circuit-breaker losses (district): $870,566 in 2026, projected over $1.5 million a year from 2028 [6].
  • Charter sharing: Lake County post-2023 referendum resolutions share with participating charters; projected $16,646 total [2][3].

What came before

  • May 2015: operating referendum, 7 years at up to $0.42, PASSED (DLGF) [7][8]. Vote totals not found.
  • May 2019: operating referendum, 8 years at up to $1.19 for 'teaching positions, staff positions, transportation services, and educational programming', PASSED: Yes 562 (56.60%), No 431 (43.40%) [4][9][7].
  • Referendum rate levied: $1.19 (2023), $1.1831 (2024), $1.1613 (2025), $1.19 (2026); 2026 referendum levy $3.16 million [10].
  • No River Forest controlled-project referendum appears on DLGF's list since 2009 [11].

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.

For

  • Superintendent Trezak: 'This is a moment of pride... to... ask for less money from our taxpayers' and the levy 'allows us to exist, improve, and thrive' [6].
  • Board Vice President Richard Perez thanked the community for support since 2019 and urged renewal [6].
  • No campaign committee identified.

Against

  • No organized opposition found.
  • Context: 43.4% voted no in 2019 [9].

Questions worth asking

  • What rate will the board levy in 2027 and how does it compare with the $1.19 levied in 2026?
  • What specific programs and staff would be cut if the levy ends after 2027?
  • How much transportation is now paid from referendum vs. Operations Fund money?
  • July 2026 minutes say referendum funds are supporting portions of the Meister Elementary kitchen remodel; how are capital-type costs decided for referendum money?
  • How do growing circuit-breaker losses interact with a lower referendum rate?

What we could not find

  • District's own net tax comparison (YES vs. today) not found; the -$118 figure is our approximation.
  • No official reduction list if the renewal fails.
  • 2015 vote totals not found; River Forest website had no referendum page found.
  • Expiration timing (end of 2027) derived from the 2019 eight-calendar-year question, not a district statement.

Sources

Researched Sunday, October 11, 2026

  1. Findings and Final Determination, No. 26-038-REF (River Forest CSC, operating extension) (Indiana DLGF)
  2. River Forest proposed revenue spending plan (2026 renewal) (River Forest CSC via DLGF)
  3. Operating Referendum Authorizing Resolution #26-06 and minutes excerpt (River Forest CSC via DLGF)
  4. Findings and Final Determination, River Forest operating referendum (2019) (Indiana DLGF)
  5. Legislative Changes to Property Tax Referenda and Controlled Projects (memo) (Indiana DLGF)
  6. Special Board Meeting minutes, July 1, 2026 (River Forest CSC (BoardDocs))
  7. Historic School Tax Levy Referenda (Indiana DLGF)
  8. Findings and Final Determination (revised), River Forest operating referendum (2015) (Indiana DLGF)
  9. 2019 Municipal Primary Election Summary (Public Question River Forest) (Lake County Board of Elections and Registration)
  10. Certified Budget, Levy, CNAV and Rate by Fund (2023-2026 workbooks) (Indiana DLGF)
  11. Historic Controlled Project Referenda (Indiana DLGF)
  12. Corporation Enrollment by Grade 2006-2026 (Indiana Department of Education)
  13. Fall 2025-2026 Public Corporation Transfer Report (Indiana Department of Education)
  14. SB 1 (2025) Estimated Net Levies, Changes from Baseline, by unit (Indiana Legislative Services Agency)
  15. Indiana Code Title 20 (IC 20-46-1-19, 20-46-1-19.5) (Indiana General Assembly)
  16. Certified Budget, Levy, CNAV and Rate by Fund, 2024 (Hammond and Lake Station levies after failed 2023 renewals) (Indiana DLGF)
What's included
the U.S. House, statewide offices, every Indiana House and Senate district on the ballot, Indiana's statewide public questions and judicial retention questions, and county, township, city, town and school board races from the Indiana Election Division's candidate list.
Everything else
Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: IndianaVoters.in.gov.
Candidate lists
As of Sunday, October 18, 2026.
At the polls
Indiana law lets you bring a list of candidates and public questions into the polling place, including one stored on your phone, as long as you don't electioneer. IC 3-11-8-18.5

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.