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School referendum · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Union Township Schools operating referendum (Porter County)

A new levy of up to $0.35 per $100 and $3.37 million a year for 8 years. The district calls it a renewal of its 21-cent levy, which ends in 2027. Ballot: +$681 a year for a $400,000 home. On ballots in Union Township School Corporation (Porter County; Wheeler High School).

Who votes on it: Registered voters who live within Union Township School Corporation boundaries (Union Township, Porter County)

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What a vote means

A yes vote
District estimate for a $400,000 home: about $167 a year more than the 21-cent rate at its budgeted $0.31 for 2027, or about $244 more at the $0.35 maximum.
A no vote
The 2020 levy (up to $0.21) runs through 2027 and then ends unless a later vote passes. About $2.2 million a year in revenue would end from 2028.

On the ballot

Read the question as it is printed, word for word
Shall Union Township School Corporation increase property taxes paid to the school corporation for no more than eight (8) years for the purpose of funding and continuing educational and operational stability in response to reductions in property tax revenue, including attracting and retaining teachers and staff, maintaining class sizes, maintaining academic and educationally related programs, and maintaining essential safety and security standards for the children of Union Township by imposing a property tax rate that does not exceed $0.35 and results in a maximum annual amount that does not exceed $3,374,291. If this operating referendum public question is approved by the voters, for a median residence of $400,000, the property's annual property tax bill would increase by $681 per year.

In full

Union Township schools, which have had a voter-approved operating levy since 2013 (renewed in 2020 at 21 cents), ask voters to approve a larger levy of up to 35 cents per $100 and up to $3.37 million a year for 2027-2034. The district calls it a renewal needed because SEA 1 shrinks the taxable base; the ballot must describe it as an increase. The current levy runs through 2027, so a NO would not change 2027 taxes but would end referendum funding after 2027 unless a later question passes.

What is being asked for

Most it could charge
$0.35 per $100 [1]
Most it could raise a year
$3,374,291 [1]
For how long
8 years
What it replaces
The district calls this a renewal of the 2013 levy renewed in 2020 [3][4]. The June 2020 renewal authorized up to $0.21 'starting in 2021 through and including 2027' [5]; the district says the current referendum 'does not expire until the end of 2027' [4]. Because the rate is higher, the ballot uses the new-levy ('increase') form and does not say it replaces anything; the June 23, 2026 resolution sets a levy for 2027-2034 and has no clause repealing the 2020 levy (OCR of DLGF filing) [2]. Indiana law does not automatically repeal an earlier levy; IC 20-46-1-19.5(b) allows one earlier and one later levy in the same year [12].
On a median home
$400,000 (Porter County Auditor) [1] — Ballot figure: +$681 per year at the full $0.35 rate as if new [1]. Net vs. today (district): about $20.33 per month (about $244 a year) more than the current 21-cent rate at the $0.35 maximum, and about $13.89 per month (about $167 a year) at the $0.31 rate the district says it has budgeted for 2027, for a $400,000 home [4][6]. The district also says the typical homeowner 'will see little change' in the overall bill because of SEA 1 deductions and credits [4] (district claim).

If it passes

  • Levy up to $0.35 / $3,374,291 for 2027-2034; district says it plans $0.31 in 2027 and the board sets the rate yearly [2][4].
  • Uses: staff $1.25M, class sizes $1.0M, academic programs $0.5M, safety/SROs $0.25M [2].
  • The district describes this as continuing existing programs, 'stability, not expansion' [6]. Voters may wish to confirm the 2020 levy will not also be levied in 2027; the resolution has no repeal clause, and the district's FAQ describes the new levy as covering 2027 through 2034 [2][4][12].
  • Cost: ballot +$681/yr ($400,000 home) vs. district's net estimate of about +$167 (2027) to +$244 (at the maximum) relative to today's 21 cents [1][4].

If it fails

  • No change for 2027: the 2020 levy (up to $0.21) runs through 2027 [4][5]. No statute says a failed later question ends an approved levy, 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), read alone, could suggest otherwise, and no DLGF memo or court ruling was found [12][14].
  • From 2028 the referendum levy would end (about $2.2 million a year at 2026 levels) [9]. District list of reductions or eliminations to be considered: academic interest courses, academic clubs and teams, middle school and JV athletics, elementary home school advisors, media specialists and nurses, elementary choir and UTMS/WHS band and choir, preschools at JSE and UCE, STEM electives and robotics, school counselors, elementary SROs, theatre, transportation [3].
  • District FAQ: 'preparations for cuts would begin in the 2027–2028 school year' and the next chance to try again would be November 2028 [4].

How it got on the ballot

  • June 23, 2026: the board adopted the Referendum Tax Levy Resolution 'on motion duly made, seconded and carried' with four members present and one absent, per the certified minutes excerpt (names partly illegible in the scan) [2].
  • The resolution says the district cannot carry out its public educational duty for 2027-2034 without a levy of up to $0.35 / $3,374,291 and 'does not plan to distribute any revenue... to a charter school' [2].
  • DLGF received the resolution June 24, 2026 and approved the language June 24, 2026 (No. 26-020-REF) [1].
  • Spending plan (2027 estimate $3,000,000): teachers and staff $1,250,000; class sizes $1,000,000; academic programs $500,000; safety and security $250,000 [2][4].
  • District says SEA 1 will reduce local revenue 'by approximately $12 million over the next 8 years' [6].

The district's own numbers

  • Enrollment: 1,452 (2018-19) to 1,426 (2025-26), -1.8% [10].
  • Fall 2025: 221 transfers in, 81 transfers out, 94 Choice Scholarship students (IDOE transfer report, as compiled) [11].
  • 2026 certified rates: Debt Service $0.427, Operations $0.3788, Referendum $0.21, School Pension Debt $0.0041 (total about $1.02); CNAV $1.03 billion (+20% since 2023) [9].
  • LSA estimate (SEA 1): -$671,110 (2026, -6.7%), -$869,570 (2027, -8.3%), -$1,136,750 (2028, -10.5%) [13].
  • District says it receives 'far below the state average in per-student funding — one of the lowest in Indiana' [4].

What came before

  • May 2013: first operating referendum, PASSED (DLGF historic list; terms and totals not found) [8].
  • June 2, 2020 (election moved from May 5 because of COVID): renewal for seven years at up to $0.21, 'originally approved... in 2013', PASSED (DLGF) [5][8]. Vote totals not found in an official source.
  • Referendum rate levied: $0.18 (2023), $0.2037 (2024), $0.1914 (2025), $0.21 (2026); 2026 levy $2.16 million [9].

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

  • District FAQ (official): 'this referendum is about continuing the same local funding that has kept Union Township strong for more than a decade' [4].
  • Friends of Union Township Schools, described by the district as an independent campaign group, is advocating a yes vote; registration not verified [4].

Against

  • No organized opposition found.

Questions worth asking

  • Will the board formally confirm the 2020 levy will not be imposed in 2027 alongside the new levy?
  • What rate is planned for 2028-2034, and when would it reach $0.35?
  • Which items on the reduction list would come first if the question fails?
  • How was the $12 million SEA 1 loss estimate calculated?
  • Does the 2020 levy end with 2027 taxes or 2027 school year?

What we could not find

  • 2013 and 2020 vote totals not found in official Porter County results.
  • Board roll-call names in the June 23, 2026 minutes excerpt are partly illegible in the scanned filing.
  • No property-class breakdown.

Sources

Researched Sunday, October 11, 2026

  1. Findings and Final Determination, No. 26-020-REF (Union Township School Corporation) (Indiana DLGF)
  2. Minutes excerpt, Referendum Tax Levy Resolution and Revenue Spending Plan (June 23, 2026) (Union Township School Corporation via DLGF)
  3. 2026 Referendum Renewal Information page (Union Township School Corporation)
  4. Referendum 2026 Renewal: Frequently Asked Questions and Answers (Union Township School Corporation)
  5. Findings and Final Determination, Union Township operating referendum (2020) (Indiana DLGF)
  6. The 2026 UTSC Ballot Question: Explanation & What It Means (Union Township School Corporation)
  7. Legislative Changes to Property Tax Referenda and Controlled Projects (memo) (Indiana DLGF)
  8. Historic School Tax Levy Referenda (Indiana DLGF)
  9. Certified Budget, Levy, CNAV and Rate by Fund (2023-2026 workbooks) (Indiana DLGF)
  10. Corporation Enrollment by Grade 2006-2026 (Indiana Department of Education)
  11. Fall 2025-2026 Public Corporation Transfer Report (Indiana Department of Education)
  12. Indiana Code Title 20 (IC 20-46-1-19, 20-46-1-19.5) (Indiana General Assembly)
  13. SB 1 (2025) Estimated Net Levies, Changes from Baseline, by unit (Indiana Legislative Services Agency)
  14. 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.