Shelbyville Central Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

Adds up to $191 a year (about $15.92 a month) for a $200,000 median home (ballot). There is no referendum tax today.

A no vote

No new tax. The district says elementary classes could grow toward 25-30 students and more bus routes could be cut.

On the ballot

The question as it is printed, word for word.

Shall Shelbyville Central Schools increase property taxes paid to the school corporation for no more than 8 years for the purpose of funding and maintaining current educational and operational programs in response to reductions in property tax revenue, including student transportation, maintaining class sizes, school safety, and recruiting and retaining staff, by imposing a property tax rate that does not exceed $0.22 and results in a maximum annual amount that does not exceed $3,606,064. If this operating referendum public question is approved by the voters, for a median residence of $200,000, this property's annual property tax bill would increase by $191 per year.

In full

Shelbyville Central Schools has never had a school tax referendum. It is asking for up to 22 cents per $100 of assessed value for eight years (2027-2034), capped at about $3.6 million a year, to keep current bus service, class sizes, safety staffing and staff recruitment. The superintendent cites SEA 1 property tax changes, which he estimates will cut operations revenue by about $2.5 million to $3 million over several years, and declining enrollment. The district says it has already cut more than $2 million ^[1][2][3][5].

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.22 per $100 of assessed value ^[1]

Most it could raise a year

$3,606,064 ^[1]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

None. This would be the district's first operating referendum ^[3][4]

On a median home

$200,000 (Shelby County Auditor certification) ^[1] — +$191 per year (about $15.92 a month). Ballot figure. Net change vs. today (our reading: the district has never had an operating referendum): the same +$191 at the maximum, the full new cost for that home ^[1][3]

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 ^[14]

If it passes

• Spending plan (2027, $3,606,064): student transportation $1,500,000; maintaining class sizes $702,021; recruiting and retaining staff $702,021; school safety $702,021 ^[2].
• Collections would begin with 2027 tax bills; Vance said the district would not have access to the money until about June 2027 ^[12].
• Vance: 'If we pass the referendum, then we plan on being able to maintain our services as we have them now' ^[3].
• Cost: +$191 a year for a $200,000 median home; referendum taxes are outside the 1/2/3% caps, so they are added even for owners at their cap ^[1][14].

If it fails

• Vance told a community meeting that elementary classes now averaging 20-25 students could move toward 25-30 ^[5].
• Transportation: more bus routes could be cut; possible fees for extracurricular transportation; possible walk or 'personal transportation' zones, including a two-mile area around Shelbyville Middle and High schools where the district would no longer bus students ^[5].
• Both the Education Fund (teacher salaries, benefits, aides) and Operations Fund (buses, facilities) would be 'significantly affected' (Vance) ^[12].
• Next chance: November 2028 general election ^[19].

How it got on the ballot

• June 15, 2026: the Board of School Trustees voted 6-0 to place the question on the ballot; the board secretary certified the resolution that day ^[2][3].
• DLGF received the resolution June 16, 2026 and approved the ballot language June 22, 2026 ^[1].
• The resolution finds the district cannot carry out its educational duty for 2027-2034 without the levy and states the district does not plan to share it with charter schools ^[2].
• Superintendent Matt Vance: 'Due to the passage of SEA 1, Shelbyville Central Schools is facing a dramatic reduction in local revenue over the next several years' and the referendum 'is not intended to expand programs' ^[3].
• May 2026: Vance and Business Manager Michelle Babcock told the board the district's 4% cash balance was a major concern (schools typically aim for 8% to 12%) and that the district had dipped into its rainy day fund earlier in the year ^[6].

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 4,071 (2018-19), 4,030 (2020-21), 4,036 (2022-23), 3,909 (2024-25), 3,860 (2025-26), down 5.2%. Vance cites 3,917 (2016-17) to 3,593 at the February 2026 count, and said preliminary fall 2026 numbers looked somewhat better than projected ^[10][5].
• Students living in the district (fall 2025): 3,963 state-funded residents; 217 transferred in, 451 out (41 to charters, mostly virtual); 133 used Choice Scholarships ^[11].
• Vance: the district receives about $7,500 per student in state funding; transportation is about 30% of the Operations Fund and the district buses every student, with no secondary walk zone ^[3][5].
• Cost cutting (2025-26 and 2026-27): more than $2 million, including 13 certified positions left unfilled through attrition, 23 employees moved from full-time to part-time, four bus routes eliminated, energy savings and a natural-gas purchasing consortium; no reduction in force ^[5][12].
• Cash: 4% cash balance and a rainy-day draw reported in May 2026 ^[6].
• Tax rates (DLGF certified 2026): Operations $0.5062 ($7.49M); debt service $0.6725 ($9.95M, up from $0.5312 in 2022); no referendum rate. Net assessed value $1.18B (2022) to $1.48B (2026) ^[13].
• 2027 advertised budget notice: estimated property tax cap credits $2.44 million against a $7.94 million maximum operating levy; it advertises the $3,606,064 referendum levy contingent on approval ^[15].
• SEA 1-2025 estimate (LSA, House-amended version): net levy -$406k (2026), -$284k (2027), +$49k (2028) versus prior law; the district's own estimate (Vance) is a $2.5-3 million operations revenue reduction over several years ^[16][5].
• Academic context: 86.2% of third graders passed IREAD in 2026; 25% of grades 3-8 were proficient in both ILEARN English and math (Addison Times, from state data) ^[17].
• Charter sharing: none planned in the resolution; from 2028 statewide sharing applies only where at least 100 resident students (or 2% of ADM) attend non-virtual charters, and the district's fall 2025 charter count was 41 including virtual charters ^[2][11][18].

What came before

• No prior operating, safety or construction referendum by Shelbyville Central Schools appears on DLGF's historic lists; the superintendent and WFYI/Chalkbeat describe this as its first ^[4][7][8].
• Major building work has been financed through general obligation bonds without a referendum (middle school renovation and high school locker rooms); Vance says that money cannot be used for salaries or operations ^[5][9].
• Shelby County's other districts (e.g., Northwestern Consolidated, Nov 2010) have held operating referendums; Shelbyville had not ^[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

• What would my own bill increase be, using the district's online calculator?
• Which bus routes or zones would change first if it fails, and when?
• How will the district rebuild its cash balance from 4% toward the 8-12% it says is typical?
• What is the plan if enrollment keeps falling during the eight years?
• Would the district seek renewal in 2034, and what would it do to avoid needing a larger rate?

What we could not find

• The district's referendum web page requires JavaScript and could not be read.
• The Shelby County News (shelbynews.com) articles are paywalled; only their visible first paragraphs were seen and none of their content is used beyond the 6-0 vote also reported by GIANT fm.
• Teacher salary schedule not found.
• No campaign committee registration was found.

Sources