When it became clear there would be only one Democrat candidate in the local general election this year, I heard some grumbling among the Republican faithful in Fishers.  Why spend all the money on an election with only one candidate of the opposite party?

Greg Purvis is running as an at-large city council candidate.  Since at-large hopefuls run in the entire city, all Fishers city precincts will be open on election day.

Now we are learning the the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Corporation is moving toward holding a referendum in November of this year, asking voters to approve funding for operating expenses. Most of the money would go toward teacher salaries and benefits, as well as class sizes. The funds could also be used to reduce or eliminate the recent fees being charged students involved in extra curricular activities, including sports.

HSE asked for an operating fund referendum tax hike of 10-cents on the property tax rate years ago and it was approved.  However, operating money referendums only last 7 years and the current 10 cent additional rate will expire next year.

The HSE School Board is nearing a decision on whether to ask local taxpayers to keep the additional 10 cent rate now in place for another 7 years, or to ask for additional money to allow better compensation for teachers and lower class sizes.  That final decision is scheduled to be made by the board on July 21st.

Once we know what the school board will be requesting from voters in the expected school referendum November 3rd, it will be clear what is at stake.

The school funding referendum means the coming general election will likely see a better voter turnout now that there will be more at stake than one at-large city council seat. School board members said in their July 13th work session that they expect organized opposition to any school referendum this time around, which is something we have rarely seen in recent HSE school funding referendums.

This will make for a much more interesting general election than we normally experience in Fishers.  LarryInFishers will be here to cover it for you.