Sheridan Community Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

Our computation: about $170 a year more for the median home if the full $0.40 replaced today's $0.25, before credits. The district gave no dollar figure.

A no vote

The 2023 levy at $0.25 continues (through 2031 by our count). The district says SEA 1 will reduce what it collects; no cut list was published.

On the ballot

In full

Sheridan Community Schools asks voters to replace its $0.25 operating referendum, renewed in 2023 with about 81% support, with an eight-year levy of up to $0.40 per $100 and $2.9 million a year for 2027-2034 ^[1][2][6][7]. District leaders say the aim is not new revenue but to keep the funding level voters approved in 2023 after SEA 1 reduced the tax base ^[3]. The 2027 spending plan estimates $1.71 million, mostly for retaining and attracting teachers and staff ^[8]. If voters say no, the 2023 levy at $0.25 continues ^[3][2].

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.40 per $100 of net assessed value ^[1]

Most it could raise a year

$2,900,000 ^[1]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

Would replace the operating levy renewed in Nov 2023 at $0.25 (eight years from 2024); the district says the two "would not run simultaneously" ^[2][3] A passing new levy does not automatically repeal the existing one unless the question or resolution says so; IC 20-46-1-19.5(b) allows one earlier and one later levy in the same year ^[24].

On a median home

$250,000 (gross AV $224,500 using Boone and Hamilton values; net AV $113,400) ^[4] — (1) Ballot figure: +$454 per year at the full $0.40 rate, as if no referendum existed ^[1][4]. (2) Net vs. today: the district gave no dollar figure; it says "many property owners may see little to no increase - and some may actually pay less" because of SEA 1 deductions and caps ^[3]. (3) Computed by this study on $113,400 net AV: about +$170 a year if the full $0.40 replaced today's $0.25, before credits ^[4][5].

If it passes

• The 2023 levy is replaced by a levy for 2027-2034, capped at $0.40 and $2.9M; the board sets the rate each year and says collections "may be significantly less than the maximum" ^[1][3].
• Spending plan, 2027 estimate $1,705,686: retaining and attracting teachers and staff $1,211,037; academic programs and operational expenses $494,639 ^[8].
• Tax effect: ballot +$454/yr at $250,000 (whole rate, as if new) ^[1]; district gives no dollar net; computed at cap +$170/yr versus $0.25 before credits ^[4].
• 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 ^[18]; the new supplemental homestead credit (lesser of 10% or $300) does not apply to referendum taxes ^[19].
• 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 ^[20]. 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 ^[9]. A renewal after 2034 would fall under the sharing rule.

If it fails

• Nothing changes on the bill: the 2023 renewal at $0.25 remains, running eight years from 2024 (through 2031 by this study's count) ^[2][3]. (No statute says a failed later question ends a levy voters already approved. After failed renewals in Hammond and Lake Station (Nov 2023), DLGF kept 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; no DLGF memo or court ruling settles it ^[24][25].)
• District says SEA 1 will reduce what that $0.25 levy collects; it has not published a cut list ^[3].
• 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 ^[21].

How it got on the ballot

• The Hamilton County Auditor (coordinating with Boone County) certified the $250,000 median and $454 figure May 29, 2026 ^[4].
• June 8, 2026: the board adopted the resolution finding it cannot carry out its educational duty in 2027-2034 without the levy ^[9].
• DLGF received the resolution June 9 and approved the language June 10, 2026 ^[1].
• Board President Tyler Henning: "This was not part of our original long-range financial planning... Then the legislature passed Senate Bill 1 in the Spring of 2025 and it affected the future tax base of the district." ^[3]

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment: 1,040 (2018-19) to 1,191 (2025-26), +14.5% ^[14].
• Fall 2025: 189 transfers in, 85 out; 35 resident students used Choice scholarships; net inflow of 69 ^[15].
• Certified net assessed value (Hamilton County unit record): $348.9M (2023) to $468.3M (2026) ^[16][5].
• Operating referendum rate $0.25 every year 2023-2026; 2026 levy $1.17M; total school rate $1.3341 ^[16][5].
• LSA estimated SEA 1 net levy change: Hamilton part -$270K (2026), -$333K (2027), -$390K (2028); Boone part -$128K, -$170K, -$203K ^[17].
• District: cuts of "several hundred thousand dollars" in the current budget cycle ^[3].

What came before

• Nov 8, 2011: operating referendum at $0.19 for seven years passed; Hamilton County portion 801 yes (74.58%) to 273 no ^[10][11][12].
• May 2017: operating referendum at $0.25 for seven years passed; the district gave up the last year of the 2011 levy ^[13][12].
• Nov 7, 2023: renewal at $0.25 for eight years passed: Hamilton portion 476 yes to 106 no, Boone portion 110 to 32, combined 586 to 138 (80.9%); the district describes it as about 84% ^[2][6][7][3].

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 rate does the board plan for 2027, and how would it change through 2034?
• How much less will the $0.25 levy collect under SEA 1 if this fails, and what would be cut?
• How do the Boone County parcels fare compared with Hamilton County parcels?
• Is there a calculator or examples by home value?

What we could not find

• The district release states rates "per $1,000"; DLGF documents state $0.25 and $0.40 per $100. This profile uses DLGF units.
• The Hamilton County Auditor's Sheridan certificate names "Westfield Washington Schools" in its body (apparent clerical error); figures match the DLGF determination.
• Board vote count not legible. District net homeowner estimate not found. 2017 vote totals not retrieved. Teacher pay and cash balances not compiled.

Sources