Tipton Community Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

Adds up to $216 a year for a $200,000 home (ballot). The district estimates $174-$216 for homes valued at $180,600-$200,000. There is no referendum tax today.

A no vote

No new tax. The district says it would face difficult decisions that may include reductions in staffing, programs, transportation and student services.

On the ballot

In full

Tipton Community Schools is asking voters, for the first time, to approve an operating property tax of up to 25 cents per $100 of assessed value, raising up to $2 million a year for eight years (2027-2034). The board says reduced state distributions, tax-cap losses and SEA 1 (2025) deductions leave it unable to carry out its duties without about $2 million more a year, after more than a year of review and staff reductions. The money would mainly support academic programs and student services, staff pay, and an operating-fund cushion.

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.25 per $100 of assessed value ^[1][2]

Most it could raise a year

$2,000,000 ^[1][2]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

None. This is the first operating referendum in the district's history ^[1][4]

On a median home

$200,000 (Tipton County Auditor; the actual median homestead gross assessed value is $164,700, rounded up to the next $50,000 as the law requires) ^[3] — +$216 a year for a $200,000 home (net assessed value $86,400 after the $40,000 standard and 46% supplemental deductions) ^[1][3]. The district estimates $174-$216 a year for homes valued $180,600-$200,000 ^[4] Net change vs. today: no operating referendum tax is on this district's bills now (DLGF 2026 certified rates show no referendum fund), so the net change for the median home equals the ballot figure, up to $216 a year if the full $0.25 rate is levied (our reading of the DLGF rate table). ^[1][9]

On other property

No separate estimate for farmland, rentals or businesses was published. Referendum taxes apply to all taxable property and are outside the 1%/2%/3% caps ^[10]

If it passes

• Ballot figure: +$216 a year for the median home at the maximum rate. Because no referendum tax is levied today, this is also the net increase versus current bills (computed; actual first-year rate may be lower if the board levies less than the maximum). ^[1][9]
• Levy of up to $0.25 per $100 and $2.0 million a year for 2027-2034 ^[1]
• Revenue spending plan (estimates): student academic programs and support, health and safety services $1,233,000; teacher and support staff retention, recruitment and compensation $481,000; student transportation $75,000; operating fund stabilization and contingency $211,000; total $2,000,000 ^[2]
• District: 'These funds will support day-to-day school operations, not new construction projects or athletic facility upgrades' ^[8]
• Mandatory statewide charter sharing (IC 20-46-1-22) applies only to levies first imposed for taxes due in 2028 or later; this levy would begin with 2027 taxes ^[10]

If it fails

• Nothing on tax bills changes: there is no existing referendum levy to expire, so a NO keeps the current rates; the district simply does not receive the new money from 2027. ^[9]
• No new tax. District: 'Without additional revenue, TCSC will continue to face difficult decisions that may include reductions in staffing, programming, transportation, and student services' ^[8]
• District: 'There are fewer remaining opportunities to make significant reductions without affecting students' ^[8]
• No board-adopted reduction list was found
• Next allowed attempt: November 2028 general election ^[10]

How it got on the ballot

• The board says the decision 'follows more than a year of detailed financial review' and that it examined budgets 'line by line' and implemented cost reductions (district release) ^[4]
• June 30, 2026: at a special meeting the Board of Trustees approved the Operating Referendum Tax Levy Resolution; the filed copy shows signature lines but the tally is not legible ^[2][4]
• The resolution cites 'continued significant reductions in the monthly distributions received from the State of Indiana', circuit-breaker credits, other credits from 2025, and expected drops in net assessed value from new deductions; it projects 2026-pay-2027 net assessed value of $873,244,945 ^[2]
• The Tipton County Auditor certified the median home and +$216 using 2025-pay-2026 gross values and 2026-pay-2027 deductions ^[3]
• DLGF received the resolution July 1, 2026 and approved the language July 6, 2026 (No. 26-036-REF) ^[1]

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 1,548 in 2018-19 and 1,406 in 2025-26 (-9.2%) ^[11]
• Fall 2025 transfers (IDOE): 1,459 state-funded resident students; 199 transferred in, 266 out, 26 Choice vouchers; net -93. Largest parent-choice destinations: Hamilton Heights (82) and Tri-Central (74) ^[12]
• Charters: 31 resident students attended charters in fall 2025, mostly virtual; below the 100-student threshold for statewide sharing ^[12][10]
• Net assessed value: $645.5 million (2022) to $896.6 million (2026), +39%; the board projects $873.2 million for 2026-pay-2027 ^[2][9]
• 2026 certified school tax rate $0.8655 per $100: Debt Service $0.3989, Operations $0.4666; no referendum rate ^[9]
• Circuit breaker losses, 2026: $828,485 of the $4,183,451 Operations levy (19.8%) ^[13]
• SEA 1 (2025) LSA estimate: net levy -$335,640 (2026), -$377,720 (2027), -$484,470 (2028, -6.5%) versus prior law ^[14]
• Teacher pay and fund balances were not located

What came before

• No prior operating or construction referendum by Tipton Community School Corporation appears in DLGF's historic lists; the district's July 2026 release is headlined as the district's 'first operating referendum', and Chalkbeat lists Tipton among five districts seeking a property tax increase for the first time ^[4][5][6][7]
• The district says it has 'eliminated or reduced positions involving teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, student services, bus drivers, and general operations personnel' ^[8]

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 is the projected Operations Fund deficit for 2027 and 2028 with and without the referendum?
• Which positions were already eliminated, and what would be cut next if the referendum fails?
• Why is $211,000 a year planned for 'stabilization and contingency', and what balance is the district aiming for?
• How will the district report each year how referendum money was spent?
• How do transfers to Hamilton Heights and Tri-Central affect revenue, and is the district doing anything about them?

What we could not find

• June 30, 2026 board vote tally not legible in the filed resolution
• District financial projections and fund balances not located
• No independent or opposing statements found

Sources