Zionsville Community Schools operating referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

District estimate: $8.84 a year for the median home (third-party parcel analysis). Our computation at the full rate: about $558 more than today.

A no vote

The 2019 levy continues through 2027 and then ends, leaving 2028 without a referendum levy. The district says cuts could affect class sizes, staffing and programs.

On the ballot

The question as it is printed, word for word.

Shall Zionsville Community Schools increase property taxes paid to the school corporation for no more than eight (8) years for the purpose of funding and sustaining academic and educationally related programs and managing class sizes which reflect community standards by imposing a property tax rate that does not exceed 0.4128 and results in a maximum annual amount that does not exceed $21,463,325. If this operating referendum public question is approved by the voters, for a median residence of $600,000.00, the property's annual property tax bill would increase by $1,368.00 per year. The most recent property tax referendum proposed by the school corporation was held in 2019 and passed.

In full

Zionsville Community Schools asks voters to approve an eight-year operating levy of up to $0.4128 per $100 and $21.46 million a year for 2027-2034 to continue the referendum that has funded teaching positions since 2012 ^[1][6]. The current 2019 levy ($0.2444, about $14.2 million) pays about one in three teachers and expires in December 2027 ^[3][4]. The district says the higher maximum offsets SEA 1's reduction of taxable value and that the median homeowner's bill would change by about $8.84 a year ^[3]. Because referendums may now be held only in even-year Novembers, the district says waiting until 2028 would leave a funding gap ^[3].

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.4128 per $100 of net assessed value ^[1]

Most it could raise a year

$21,463,325 ^[1]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

Succeeds the 2019 operating referendum ($0.2444, levied 2020-2027), which the district says expires in December 2027; the district calls this a renewal although the ballot uses the new-levy form ^[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 ^[29].

On a median home

$600,000 ^[1] — (1) Ballot figure: +$1,368 per year at the full $0.4128 rate, as if no referendum existed ^[1]. (2) Net vs. today (district estimate): "for the median value of a home in our community, the annual impact of the November 2026 referendum would be $8.84," based on a third-party parcel analysis ^[3]. (3) Computed by this study, scaling the ballot figure to the rate difference: about +$558 a year if the full $0.4128 replaced today's $0.2444, before credits ^[1][4].

If it passes

• Levy for 2027-2034 capped at $0.4128 and $21,463,325; the district says the rate will rise gradually and the maximum is not intended for early years ^[1][5].
• Spending plan: $10,731,662.50 for maintaining reduced class sizes and $10,731,662.50 for academic and educationally related programs (the plan uses the maximum levy as its revenue estimate) ^[23].
• Tax effect: ballot +$1,368/yr at $600,000 (whole rate, as if new) ^[1]; district net about +$8.84/yr for the median home ^[3]; computed at cap about +$558/yr versus today's rate, before credits ^[1].
• 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 ^[24]; the new supplemental homestead credit (lesser of 10% or $300) does not apply to referendum taxes ^[25].
• 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 ^[26]. 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 ^[8]. A renewal after 2034 would fall under the sharing rule.

If it fails

• Nothing changes in 2027: the 2019 levy continues through December 2027 ^[3][7]. (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 ^[29][20].)
• From 2028 there would be no operating referendum levy unless voters approve one on Nov 3, 2028 (for 2029), so 2028 would be a gap year; the district says "Waiting until November 2028 would cause a gap in funding" ^[3].
• Computed: a $600,000 median home would pay roughly $810 a year less from 2028 (today's $0.2444 on the net AV implied by the ballot figure) ^[1][4].
• District says reductions "could impact" class sizes, staffing at all levels, academic offerings, student supports and educational programming, with specifics left to the board ^[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 ^[27].

How it got on the ballot

• March 24, 2026 public work session reviewed SEA 1's projected reduction in certified net assessed value between 2026 and 2031 and recommended a November 2026 question ^[7].
• April 13, 2026 board meeting continued the financial discussion ^[6].
• June 8, 2026: the board adopted the resolution 4-0 (Aeschliman, Berg, Valentine, Wessel-Powell present; Coussens absent) ^[8].
• DLGF received the resolution June 9 and approved the language June 10, 2026 ^[1].

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment: 7,301 (2018-19) to 8,003 (2025-26), +9.6% ^[17].
• Fall 2025: 81 transfers in, 123 out; 197 resident students used Choice scholarships ^[18].
• Certified net assessed value: $4.67B (2023) to $5.82B (2026) ^[19][4].
• Operating referendum rate: $0.2444 (2023), $0.2352 (2024), $0.2282 (2025), $0.2444 (2026, levy $14.22M); total school rate $1.30 in 2026 ^{[19][20][21][4]}.
• District: lowest per-pupil state funding in Indiana; 100% of referendum money pays teacher salaries and benefits; highest credit rating among Indiana school districts ^[6][3].
• District: compared with 2011, 69 fewer middle school and 139 fewer high school core classes with 30 or more students ^[3].
• LSA estimated SEA 1 net levy change: -$3.24M (2026, -5.1%), -$4.69M (2027, -7.2%), -$6.53M (2028, -9.6%) ^[22].

What came before

• Nov 2, 2010: operating referendum at $0.295 failed; Boone County precinct reports sum to 4,035 yes (38.8%) and 6,359 no ^[9][10].
• May 2012: operating referendum at $0.2444 for three years passed; precinct reports sum to 5,417 yes (57.9%) and 3,937 no ^[11][12].
• Nov 3, 2015: operating referendum at $0.2444 for six years (2016-2021) passed; precinct reports sum to 4,212 yes (67.3%) and 2,048 no ^[13][14].
• Nov 5, 2019: operating referendum at $0.2444 for 2020-2027 passed, 6,917 yes (79.63%) to 1,769 no, replacing the 2016 levy; a construction (controlled project) referendum passed the same day, 6,522 yes (76.36%) to 2,019 no ^[2][15][16]. The district describes the 2019 approval as 76% ^[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

• In 2027, will both the 2019 levy and the new levy be collected, or does the new levy replace the old one that year?
• What rate is projected each year through 2034?
• How was the $8.84 median impact calculated, and which homes would see larger increases?
• Which positions would be cut first if the levy lapses in 2028?

What we could not find

• How the 2019 and 2026 levies interact in 2027 is not stated in the resolution.
• The district's 76% figure for 2019 differs from the county's 79.63%.
• 2010, 2012 and 2015 totals were summed by this study from precinct reports; certified totals not found.
• Boone County auditor certificate is handwritten; figures taken from the DLGF determination.
• Teacher pay and cash balances not compiled.

Sources