As I write this piece on October 29, we are about 10 days away from the November 7th election day. Early voting has already started.
I wrote a piece posted on this blog July 16, discussing the HSE Schools referendum and the support it has garnered among local elected officials. I also tried to sift through many issues surrounding the ballot measure.
The local school board voted 6-0 (with an abstention from Tiffany Pascoe) authorizing the ballot measure and rate to be placed on the election ballot. If passed, the referendum would generate an estimated $24 million per year for the district. The referendum rate, if passed, would be .1995. The current referendum rate, passed in 2016, is .2275. So, if the referendum passes, the referendum rate would decrease slightly.
Advance HSE, the Political Action Committee advocating for passage of the school referendum, has an online calculator to compute what your 2024 property tax amount would be if the referendum passes, at this link.
Many of the comments posted on my July 16th story took me to task for not looking at the tax situation for property owners in the HSE District should the referendum fail. Since there is no organized opposition to this referendum as I write this, no one has done a deep dive into what property tax savings you would recognize, but your property taxes would go down without the referendum rate.
However, keep in mind that the issue of increased property valuations would not go away if the referendum fails. You would have a lower school tax rate, but that does not impact potentially higher property tax valuations that can impact your bill.
Some comments say the increase in assessed valuation of property, a big driver of increased property tax bills, is not being considered in this discussion. In my coverage, it has been discussed, but the local school board has no control over that system. The Indiana General Assembly has the final say on the property tax system outside the setting of local rates.
It should be noted that state lawmakers have enacted an additional deduction for property tax bills owed in 2024. For more details, see this article from the Indiana Capitol Chronicle. As noted in the story, this additional property tax deduction is a temporary 3-year relief measure.
Indiana’s property tax system is very complex. There is the rate, but there are deductions and other adjustments.
There is one thing we know for certain. If the referendum fails, the HSE Schools will lose about $24 million annually in future years. That will result in fewer teachers, larger class sizes (particularly in the lower grades) and cutting back or elimination of many educational programs.
As a voter, this is your choice as you cast your ballot in the November 7th election.
By the way, don’t forget, there is an important city election with the city clerk, at-large city council members and all but one district seat on the city council up for grabs. Your local city government is the closest government to you and has a major impact on the life you live in Fishers. Vote in the school referendum and city election when casting your 2023 general election ballot.