Over the summer, Lake and Porter County schools received state and local approvals for placing referendum questions on the November ballot, which most superintendents said are required to maintain operations amid the state’s property tax law from last year.
School City of Whiting, Tri-Creek School Corporation, River Forest Community School Corporation and Crown Point Community School Corporation in Lake County and Porter Township School Corporation and Union Township Corporation in Porter County are seeking voter approval of referendum questions this fall.
School funding in Indiana has changed drastically in recent years, said Tri-Creek School Corporation Superintendent Andy Anderson.
“We no longer benefit from residential housing growth or business growth. The amount of money that we can collect is capped. Once it reaches a certain amount, it doesn’t matter how much more there is out there; you have no access to it,” Anderson said.
The Tri-Creek School Corporation sought a referendum to maintain certain programs in May 2023, but it failed, Anderson said. After the referendum failed, the district cut 10% of its workforce and reduced its budget, he said.
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The district was operating “as lean as could be,” Anderson said, when Senate Enrolled Act 1 was signed into law in 2025, which established a new property tax system by saving two-thirds of taxpayers up to $300 on their 2025 property tax bill while local governments will lose $1.4 billion through 2028.
Under the property tax law, schools have been receiving less in property tax revenue, which means less funding for schools’ operating budgets. The law allows schools to place referendum questions on the ballot to increase property taxes during a general election.
Under Senate Enrolled Act 1, within three years, the Tri-Creek School Corporation won’t be able to pay for its payroll, Anderson said.
“It’s not a result of mismanagement of funds. It’s not a result of living in excess. We are already at bare minimum, and then this happened. We have no choice but to go to our public in November to request an approval for a referendum,” Anderson said.
Tri-Creek School Corporation’s referendum requests a property tax increase for no more than 8 years to replace lost property tax revenue, fund bus transportation, student programs and school safety that does not exceed 0.17 cents for every $100 in assessed value and results in the district receiving $3 million, according to the referendum language.
For a $300,000 home, the homeowner’s property tax bill would increase by $245 per year, according to the referendum.
Ultimately, the district’s referendum aims “to maintain the status quo,” Anderson said.
“We’re not looking for anything extra. We’re not looking to expand any programs. It simply is to keep our head above water,” Anderson said.
If the referendum doesn’t pass, the Tri-Creek School Corporation will need to cut $3 million annually, Anderson said. The district would likely cut $2.3 million in transportation costs and about $500,000 in extracurricular activities and some support staff to reach the $3 million in cuts, he said.
Anderson said he’s heard from residents who have said they have had to cut their home budgets so the district could figure out how to make cuts to its budget.
“I hope people understand that believing in your local school district and with what it offers your community is crucial,” Anderson said. “There is no other mechanism to fall back on. That’s how important this November referendum question is to the Tri-Creek School Corporation.”
The School City of Whiting will have two referenda, one for operations and one for capital, said Superintendent David Verta. The district will ask for $24 million for operations and $35 million for capital, he said.
The operations referendum would go toward maintaining the educational quality to ensure students have the services and resources they need to be successful, Verta said. The capital referendum would go toward safety and security, he said, including addressing aging infrastructure.
If the referendum doesn’t pass, the School City of Whiting would likely have to increase class sizes and cut school safety positions and some programs, Verta said.
“It’s going to totally wipe out our reserves if we don’t pass this referendum. We’re going to have to make some hard, hard decisions that are going to directly impact our students,” Verta said. “This is really the only way for schools to bring in revenue and get things done, is we need our community’s help.”
Senate Enrolled Act 1 has resulted in a greater need for schools across the state to go to the community for funding, Verta said.
“We’re at a position now where this is real; this has taken place. We have to basically put it in our community’s hands to help us out. When you talk about taxes and things of that nature, it’s not fun, but there’s really no other way to bring in the revenue needed for us to be successful,” Verta said. “The expenditures keep rising and the money that we’re bringing in keeps getting less and less. They just keep cutting money from schools.”
Since the property tax law went into effect, the School City of Whiting has cut $475,000 in staffing, which included a combination of teachers and staff retiring, leaving their position without it being filled or some positions being eliminated, Verta said.
“We’re trying to be fiscally responsible. We’re a very small district, so if we don’t get the operating referendum and if we have to cut more, it’s really going to impact our students,” Verta said. “We’re really paying attention to every penny that we’re spending. But you get to a point where there’s not enough more that you can do.”
River Forest Community School Corporation Superintendent Kevin Trezak said the district’s referendum is a renewal of a 2019 referendum and it lowers the tax burden on residents.
The 2019 referendum had a maximum tax rate of $1.19 for every $100 in assessed value, while the November referendum tax rate won’t exceed $0.9912 for every $100 in assessed value starting in 2027 through 2034, which would be a $118 tax decrease for taxpayers, Trezak said.
If the referendum doesn’t pass, residents would see a decrease in their annual property tax bill by $589 per year, according to the referendum.
Approximately $1.1 million of the referendum funds will go toward transportation costs, which the 2019 referendum addressed as well, Trezak said. Without the referendum, the district won’t be able to provide transportation funding, he said.
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Approximately $1.3 million of the funds will go toward sustaining educational and operational funding “in response to reductions in property tax revenue,” approximately $500,000 supporting and retaining teachers and staff, and approximately $50,000 supporting essential health and safety initiatives, which includes keeping school resource officers, according to the referendum and district Chief Financial Officer Samantha Berrier.
If the referendum doesn’t pass, amid Senate Enrolled Act 1, Trezak said the district won’t have enough money in its operations fund — which is used to pay for transportation, some salaries and building improvement — to cover its NIPSCO bill by 2031.
The district has taken steps to discontinue transportation if the referendum doesn’t pass, Trezak said. The district would also lose teachers and support staff, some of whom graduated from River Forest Community School Corporation and are known in the community, he said.
When the district went for a referendum in 2019, the district’s circuit breaker losses were approximately $300,000, Berrier said. This year, the district will see $760,000 in circuit breaker losses; by 2028 the district will see $1.5 million in circuit breaker losses; and by 2031 the district will see $1.6 million in circuit breaker losses, Berrier said.
“We have quadrupled the amount of losses that we have when we originally went to our community for that referendum,” Berrier said. “Over the next five years, that amounts to a loss of $7.3 million.”
Tax caps, which became part of the state constitution in 2010, limit homeowners’ tax bills to a 1% percent increase. When tax bills exceed the cap, a circuit breaker credit kicks in representing a savings to the homeowner, but a revenue loss to a school district.
The Crown Point Community School Corporation, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment, will have a referendum on the ballot in November “in response to reductions in property tax revenue” to support essential health and safety initiatives, support and retain teachers and staff, maintain class sizes, student transportation, and fund academic and support programs for student education, according to the referendum language.
The tax rate won’t exceed $0.3870 for every $100 in assessed value, and the maximum annual amount won’t exceed approximately $19.8 million. If approved, a home valued at $350,000 will see an annual property tax bill increase of $684, according to the referendum.
The referendum would be broken down as follows: approximately $4.7 million for essential health and safety initiatives, $3 million for supporting and retaining teachers and staff and maintaining class sizes, $6 million for student transportation and $5 million for funding academic and support programs, according to the referendum paperwork.
In Porter County, Union Township School Corporation is asking voters to renew its operating referendum to maintain and continue the educational opportunities, said Superintendent Leigh Barnes.
The referendum would allow the district to collect up to the maximum levy amount of approximately $3.4 million annually with a maximum tax rate of $0.35 per $100 of assessed value through 2034, Barnes said. In the first year, the rate won’t exceed $0.31, she said.
For a median home value of $394,400, the taxpayer would see an increase of approximately $13.89 per month in the first year of the referendum, Barnes said.
“Union Township School Corporation will review the referendum rate annually throughout the life of the referendum and will levy only the amount necessary to meet the district’s operating needs, not automatically the maximum amount allowed,” Barnes said.
The funds would go toward retaining teachers and staff, preserving academic programming, student support services, transportation, school safety and technology, Barnes said.
Without the referendum, the district “would experience a significant loss of operating revenue,” Barnes said. The district projects to lose approximately $2.7 million in the first year and each year after that depending on assessed value, she said.
“The district would need to make difficult budget reductions affecting staffing, programming, student opportunities, and services, specifically reductions in transportation, extra-curricular programming, fine arts and athletics, and specialized courses at all levels. These reductions will impact the educational experience our community has come to expect,” Barnes said.
The property tax law has reduced the amount of local property tax revenue available to schools and other local governments, Barnes said. Union Township School Corporation will experience “a substantial reduction in projected local revenue over the coming years,” she said.
“Like many districts across the state, we are asking our community to continue to help bridge that funding gap so we can continue providing the high-quality educational opportunities our students deserve while maintaining responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” Barnes said.
Porter Township School Corporation will seek a property tax increase for eight years “in response to reductions in property tax revenue” to maintain essential health and safety initiatives, which include employing and retaining school resource officers, supporting and retaining teachers and staff, managing class sizes, maintaining student transportation and funding academic and support programs, according to the referendum language.
The tax rate wouldn’t exceed $0.3576 per $100 in assessed value and results in a maximum annual amount that does not exceed $3.5 million, according to the referendum.
For a median residence of $350,000, the homeowner’s property tax bill would increase by $599 a year, according to the referendum.
In 2027, the district anticipates collecting $1.5 million through the referendum levy, which will be spent $130,000 for employing and retaining school resource officers, $135,000 for supporting and retaining teachers and staff, $20,000 for managing class sizes, $1.2 million for transportation, $10,000 for academics and support programs and $5,000 for health and safety initiatives, according to the referendum.
Porter Township School Corporation Superintendent Stacey Schmidt said the district is going to the voters with the referendum because the new property tax law “will significantly reduce the funding our district receives to operate our schools.”
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“Those dollars pay for the day-to-day services families rely on — not buildings or new construction, but teachers, bus transportation, school safety and student programs,” Schmidt said. “We have already reduced spending and looked for every efficiency we can.”
If the referendum doesn’t pass, it’s likely school bus transportation times would double or be eliminated, Schmidt said. The district would also likely have to reduce staff, which would increase class sizes and negatively impact school resource officers and school nurses, she said.
“This referendum is about preserving the educational experience our community expects for its children. Our responsibility is to clearly explain why additional funding is needed and what the consequences are if it is not approved so voters can make an informed decision,” Schmidt said.