School referendum voter guide: ballot limits, replacement levies and the IPS tax estimates

For the Nov. 3 election, compare the tax voters may authorize with the change from the levy already on your bill.

A school referendum’s maximum tax rate, its maximum annual revenue and its median-home illustration answer different questions. None alone predicts your future property-tax bill.

Selected questions confirmed in county election records

The table covers six questions established in final county sample ballots or a county election board’s published general-election notice: Zionsville, Carmel Clay, Hamilton Southeastern, Noblesville, Anderson and Elwood. It is a selected guide, not a complete list of Central Indiana ballot questions. Check your own ballot at IndianaVoters.com.

District names link to the county election record. Rates are maximum cents per $100 of assessed value; annual levy ceilings are rounded to the nearest $100,000. All six seek up to eight years. Home illustrations are supplied in the official question, not independently calculated by BusinessIndy. Different home values make the last column unsuitable for comparing identical properties.

Anderson’s final column describes the estimated decrease if its renewal fails. The other entries reproduce the question’s approval illustration; where a levy replaces an existing tax, that illustration is not necessarily the net increase from the existing bill.

What a yes vote would authorize

Carmel Clay’s county ballot explicitly repeals and replaces existing referendums. Hamilton Southeastern’s replaces the referendum levy extended in 2023. Their full proposed rates should not be added on top of the levies being replaced. Anderson asks to continue its existing 10.77-cent operating referendum.

A ballot maximum sets a ceiling. It does not prove what a board will collect each year or what an individual owner will owe. A lower projected collection rate is a separate estimate or commitment; voters should check the board action and its conditions.

The Indianapolis example: $221, $106, $115—and the live calculator

IPEC’s state-approved proposed question sets a maximum of 37.2 cents per $100, $95 million annually and four years. Its $221 illustration concerns a $150,000 median residence. IPS and IPEC say the proposed operating levy replaces the 19.6-cent levy expiring Dec. 31, 2026.

The current IPS FAQ estimates a net annual increase of about $106 by subtracting about $115 already paid from $221. IPEC’s information page instead calls approximately $115 the net increase; its FAQ uses roughly $100. Those descriptions do not agree.

On Oct. 30, the live IPS calculator, with $150,000 entered as a primary residence and zero in the other property categories, estimated 2027 referendum liability of $220.97 at the proposed rate and $116.42 at the prior rate, with a $104.54 annual increase—about $105, or $8.71 monthly.

That is the district calculator’s estimate, not an independently modeled bill. It uses the same 2027 $59,400 net assessed value for both rates, after a $40,000 homestead deduction and $50,600 supplemental deduction. BusinessIndy checked the arithmetic using those displayed assumptions. Subtracting the separately rounded totals yields $104.55; the calculator’s $104.54 uses the unrounded amounts.

The matched 2027 calculator comparison is the clearest current numerical example. It does not validate IPEC’s $115 net-increase wording or establish why that wording differs. The rounded $106 FAQ example also uses a different prior-charge approximation. None of these figures promises the change from a particular owner’s 2026 total bill to the 2027 total bill.

Before you vote

Read the proposed uses alongside the district’s current spending plan. A stated staffing or program purpose is a plan, not money already spent. Read the six county questions through the table links.

For a household or business estimate, use the correct property type, assessed value, deductions, credits and existing referendum charge. Commercial property cannot use a median-home example. Ask whether the comparison holds valuation and other assumptions constant and whether it measures only the referendum or the entire tax bill.

Indiana’s general election is Nov. 3, 2026, with polls open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. Confirm your applicable questions and voting location through the state voter portal or your county election office.

Related BusinessIndy coverage: IPS funding proposal; Carmel Clay replacement levy. These earlier stories provide background; use the current calculator comparison above for the updated IPS estimate.

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