West Lafayette Community Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

District calculator for the median home: about $27 less in 2027, and a net $35.88 more over the next four years.

A no vote

The 37-cent levy stays until 2031 but raises less each year as SEA 1 phases in. The district says layoffs would be likely, with larger classes and fewer programs.

On the ballot

In full

West Lafayette already has a voter-approved operating referendum of 37 cents per $100 that runs through 2031. Because SEA 1 shrinks the taxable value that rate applies to, the district says it will collect about $1.6 million less a year by 2031. It asks voters to allow a rate of up to 57.06 cents for 2027-2034, which it says it will phase in only as needed to keep revenue level. The ballot's $956 figure counts the whole rate as new; the district says most homeowners' school tax would change little ^[1][3][4].

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.5706 per $100 of assessed value ^[1]

Most it could raise a year

$16,100,000 ^[1]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

The district says the current 37-cent referendum rate (approved 2010, renewed 2017 and 2023, running through 2031) 'will be replaced by a rate of up to 57.06 cents' if approved ^[3][4] 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 ^[21].

On a median home

$350,000 (Tippecanoe County Auditor certification) ^[1] — +$956 per year on the ballot (statutory figure: the full 57.06-cent rate counted as if no referendum tax existed). District: such a home already pays about $670-700 a year under the 37-cent rate; its scenario shows about $708 at a revenue-neutral rate, and its calculator shows -$27 in 2027 and a net +$35.88 over the next four years ^[1][3][4][5]

On other property

District and Masson analysis: SEA 1 gives rental (2%) property a new 33.4% deduction phasing in through 2031 and raises the business personal property exemption, so a higher rate is needed to keep landlord and business payments level; no county estimate by property class was published ^[6][3]

If it passes

• Spending plan (2027 estimate $9,047,294): teacher compensation for class sizes and academic programming $5,699,795; Operations Fund costs (maintenance, personnel, transportation) $3,347,499 ^[2].
• District: the board 'would levy only at the rate necessary to generate previously projected revenue' and expects to phase in increases from 2027 to 2031; it may keep 37 cents for 2027 ^[3][5].
• District scenario for an owner-occupied $350,000 home: $670 under the 37-cent rate versus $708 at a revenue-neutral rate; its calculator example shows -$27 in 2027 and a net +$35.88 over four years ^[3][5].
• No charter sharing is planned; statewide sharing applies only to levies first imposed after 2027 and where at least 100 resident students (or 2% of ADM) attend non-virtual charters ^[2][21].

If it fails

• The existing 37-cent levy stays in place until 2031 but raises less each year as SEA 1 phases in ^[3][5]. (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][24].)
• District: the board would balance budgets through reductions or one-time use of fund balance; 'Because the vast majority of district expenditures are for people, layoffs would be likely,' with larger classes and fewer programs; the board has not designated specific cuts ^[3][5].
• Next chance: November 2028 ^[5][22].

How it got on the ballot

• After SEA 1 was signed in April 2025, the board spent about a year studying its effects with Policy Analytics LLC ^[7].
• May 2026: a Morris Leatherman phone survey of 400 residents (paid for by the district) found 75.8% would favor a tax to offset projected SEA 1 losses (78% in a similar 2023 survey) ^[7][8].
• May 11, 2026: about two dozen community leaders attended a board presentation on the rate; a 'community sounding board' met May 15, May 27 and June 4, 2026 ^[7].
• June 8, 2026: the board adopted the referendum resolution 6-0 (yes: Austin, Lyle, Mumford, Purpura, Wang, Witt; Yin attended virtually and did not vote). The minutes note that from approval the district entered the period in which school resources and employees acting officially may not be used to advocate for or against the referendum ^[2][9].
• DLGF received the resolution June 9, 2026 and approved the ballot language June 12, 2026 ^[1].
• The resolution states the district does not plan to share the levy with charter schools ^[2].
• Sept 14, 2026: after the county certified net assessed value (referendum AV up 8.28%), Superintendent Shawn Greiner said he would recommend keeping the referendum rate at 37 cents for 2027; adoption was set for Oct 1, 2026 ^[10][11].

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 2,411 (2018-19), 2,316 (2020-21), 2,420 (2022-23), 2,343 (2024-25), 2,339 (2025-26); Greiner reported 2,309 on Sept 14, 2026, with record-low kindergarten of 125 ^[15][10].
• Students living in the district (fall 2025): 2,141 state-funded residents; 122 transferred in and 78 out (8 to charters); 41 used Choice Scholarships ^[16].
• Referendum money is nearly 25% of revenue and pays salaries and benefits for more than 50 teachers plus custodial, maintenance and transportation costs; about 65% goes to teaching and 35% to operations (district) ^[3].
• Tax rates (DLGF certified): referendum $0.37 every year 2022-2026, levy $6.52M (2022) to $8.70M (2026); Operations $0.3536 ($4.57M); debt service $0.5375 ($6.95M). Net assessed value $1.06B (2022) to $1.29B (2026) ^[17].
• 2027 advertised budget notice: referendum fund to be raised $9.42 million (2026: $8.70M); estimated property tax cap credits $1.11 million against a $4.85 million maximum operating levy ^[18].
• SEA 1-2025 estimate (LSA, House-amended version): net levy -$563k (2026), -$849k (2027), -$1.76M (2028, -8.2%); district: about $1.6 million a year less by 2031 at the 37-cent rate ^[19][4].
• Savings the district lists: $448,000 in recurring annual savings through attrition and contract efficiencies ^[20].
• Results the district cites: Jr./Sr. High above the 90th percentile in Indiana for ILEARN math, graduation rate and SAT ^[20].
• Teacher pay and fund balances were not found in sources reviewed.

What came before

• May 4, 2010: operating referendum, up to $0.43 per $100. PASSED (DLGF); 66% yes (district) ^[12][3].
• May 2017: renewal at $0.37 per $100 for 7 years for academic programs. PASSED (DLGF); 94% yes (district). The board had never levied more than 37 cents under the 2010 authority (Masson) ^{[12][13][3][6]}.
• Nov 2023: renewal of the $0.37 rate for 8 years (taxes 2024-2031) for retaining and attracting teachers and staff and academic and operating costs. PASSED (DLGF certified); 80% yes (district); just over 80% (Based in Lafayette) ^{[12][14][3][8]}.
• The district describes its 2010 levy as 'one of the state's first operating levies' ^[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 did the board adopt for 2027 on Oct 1, and what rates does it project for 2028-2031?
• If approved, is there anything that would stop a future board from levying the full 57.06 cents?
• How would my own bill change, given SEA 1's deduction changes, if the question passes versus fails?
• Which programs or positions would be cut first if the levy shrinks after 2027?
• What happens to rental housing costs, given the new rental deduction and a higher rate?

What we could not find

• The rate adopted at the Oct 1, 2026 budget meeting was not confirmed.
• Certified vote totals for 2010, 2017 and 2023 were not retrieved; percentages are the district's.
• Vote Yes for WL Schools committee registration and finance reports not reviewed.
• Teacher salary schedule and cash balances not found.

Sources