Southeast Dubois County Schools operating referendum renewal

What a vote means

A yes vote

Same maximum rate as now. The district estimates the median homeowner's 2027 bill will be $9.12 lower than in 2026, because of SEA 1 credits.

A no vote

The 2020 levy runs through 2028 and then ends: $164 a year less for a $200,000 median home (ballot). No district cut list was published.

On the ballot

In full

Southeast Dubois is asking voters to renew, two years early, the operating referendum they approved in 2020 at the same maximum rate of 19 cents per $100, for eight more years (2027-2034) and up to $1.24 million a year. The money has mostly paid teacher and staff salaries and benefits for academic programs, class sizes, staff retention, and safety and mental-health supports. The district says it is renewing now because the 2025 state law limits referendums to November general elections, and waiting until 2028 could leave a funding gap if a renewal failed.

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.19 per $100 of assessed value, the same maximum as the 2020 referendum ^[1][2]

Most it could raise a year

$1,242,788 ^[1][2]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

The 2020 operating referendum (max $0.19, approved Nov. 3, 2020, running through 2028). A yes vote replaces it with a new eight-year levy for 2027-2034 ^[2][8][10]

On a median home

$200,000 (median household assessed value certified by the Dubois County Auditor, rounded up to the next $50,000) ^[1] — Ballot: if NOT approved, a $200,000 median home's bill would fall by $164 a year once the referendum levy ends ^[1]. Net change if approved: the rate maximum stays at $0.19, so the referendum part of the bill stays about the same; the district estimates the median homeowner's 2027 bill will be $9.12 lower than in 2026 because of SEA 1 credits, not because of the referendum ^[10]

On other property

No separate figure for farmland, rental or business property is published; the district calculator lets owners of 1%, 2% and 3% property estimate their own amount. Referendum taxes are outside the 1%/2%/3% caps ^[10]

If it passes

• The 2020 levy is replaced by a new levy of up to $0.19 and $1,242,788 a year for 2027-2034 ^[2]
• Spending plan for 2027: academic and educationally related programs $733,335; student health and safety $362,238; maintaining class sizes $72,230; recruiting and retaining teachers and staff $74,985 ^[3][13]
• Net cost: the maximum rate does not change. The district estimates the median homeowner's total bill will fall by about $9.12 in 2027 compared with 2026, because of state tax credits ^[10]
• Charter sharing: the resolution says the district does not plan to share the levy with charter schools; a levy first imposed in 2027 is not covered by the statewide sharing rule for levies first imposed after 2027 ^[2][21]

If it fails

• Timing: nothing changes right away. The 2020 levy runs through 2028 (district; The Herald, 2020), so the ballot’s $164-a-year decrease for a $200,000 median home would come only after the levy ends ^[1][8][10] (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 ^[21][23].)
• The district has not published a cut list. The Free Press, explaining the district's case, wrote that losing the funds could mean cuts in class sizes, teachers and counselors, and possibly the school resource officer ^[14]
• Retry: a defeated question cannot be repeated for 700 days (350 with a petition), and only at a general election, so the next chance is November 2028 ^[21]
• A levy approved in 2028 would be first imposed in 2029 and would fall under the statewide charter-sharing rule if at least 100 resident students (or 2% of ADM) attend brick-and-mortar charters; that count was not found for Southeast Dubois ^[21]

How it got on the ballot

• May 13, 2026: Superintendent Dr. Jamie Pund presented on SEA 1 and its effect on assessed value, property tax revenue and the referendum; the board voted 5-0 to authorize the administration to investigate a referendum and work with the county auditor and DLGF ^[12]
• June 3, 2026: the board adopted the renewal resolution and spending plan; the board secretary certified adoption by a majority (vote count not found in an official record). The resolution says the district cannot carry out its educational duty for 2027-2034 without continuing the levy ^[2]
• June 4, 2026: DLGF received the resolution and Dubois County Auditor certification; June 5, 2026: DLGF approved the ballot language ^[1]
• District reason for timing: 'Senate Bill 1 changed the rules surrounding school referendums and placed new restrictions on when school corporations can seek voter approval. Because of these changes, waiting until 2028 could limit the district’s ability to place a renewal on the ballot when needed.' ^[10]

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 1,338 in 2017-18, 1,287 in 2019-20, 1,254 in 2024-25, 1,243 in 2025-26 (-7.1%) ^[18]
• Fall 2025 transfers (IDOE): 1,168 state-funded resident students; 129 transferred in, 91 out, 13 Choice vouchers; net +25 ^[19]
• Referendum levy (certified budget orders): rate $0.1900 and levy $821,913 (2022); $0.1789 and $899,732 (2023); $0.1729 and $1,042,999 (2025); $0.1900 and $1,129,807 (2026) ^[16][17]
• The district says the referendum fund was about 6.45% of its budget and provided $1,042,999 in 2025 ^[10]
• Referendum fund spending by type (district chart, period not stated): salaries 67.86%, staff benefits 22.07%, student supplies/materials 5.06%, safety/security 4.32%, technology 0.69% ^[11]
• Net assessed value $432.6M (2022) to $594.6M (2026); total school tax rate $1.1739 (2022) and $1.0982 (2026) ^[16][17]
• 2027 budget notice: referendum fund budget $1,649,572 with an advertised maximum levy of $1,490,000 (current levy $1,129,807); property tax cap credit estimate $363,000 ^[15]
• SEA 1 (2025), LSA estimate: net levies $337,130 lower in 2026, $420,200 lower in 2027 and $485,440 lower in 2028 than under prior law (-5.4%, -6.5%, -7.2%) ^[20]

What came before

• Nov. 3, 2020: first operating referendum found in DLGF lists, up to $0.19 for eight years for academic programs, class sizes, staff recruitment/retention and safety/mental health. PASSED 2,812 yes to 1,130 no (71.3%) (certified state results; The Herald) ^[5][7][8]
• At a September 2020 meeting, Supt. Pund said Southeast Dubois was the fourth-lowest-funded corporation in the state at $5,493.91 per student and that, if the vote failed, staff and programs would be reduced and consolidation 'would be a possibility'; an attendee who farms said the tax would take 8.1% of his income ^[9]
• The 2020 DLGF determination describes the 2020 question as 'continuing a referendum tax levy', but no earlier Southeast Dubois operating referendum appears in DLGF's historic lists (2009 onward) ^[5][6]
• No construction referendum by the district 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

• If the renewal fails in 2026, does the 2020 levy still run through 2028, and what would the district cut in 2029?
• Why is the 2027 maximum levy ($1,242,788) higher than the 2026 levy ($1,129,807) if the rate is unchanged?
• How many positions does the referendum fund pay for?
• Why does the 2027 budget notice advertise a referendum levy of $1.49 million when the ballot caps it at $1,242,788?
• Has the district studied charter-sharing exposure if it had to seek a referendum in 2028?

What we could not find

• Board vote count on the June 3, 2026 resolution was not found (June minutes not located).
• Effect of a NO on the 2020 levy: the district and The Herald describe it as running through 2028. 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 ^[21][23].
• Dubois County 2024 budget order was not downloaded, so 2024 rates are missing.
• Teacher salary data and cash balances were not reviewed.
• The expenditure chart does not state which year it covers.

Sources