Local
Washington Township referendum would preserve school staffing with an eight-year tax renewal
Voters in the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township will decide Nov. 3 whether to continue a tax increase expected to generate up to $24 million over eight years. The district says the money would sustain existing staff and student programs, while opponents cite the burden on taxpayers.
Washington Township voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to renew a school tax increase expected to generate as much as $24 million over eight years for the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township.
The proposed referendum would continue a tax increase approved in 2020: 25 cents for every $100 of assessed property value. Because the new measure would replace the current one, the district estimates the monthly cost for a home assessed at $300,000 would be $30.43, compared with $31.50 under the existing referendum.
The current tax increase remains in effect through 2028, even if voters reject the renewal this November. The district could return to voters in 2028. Without new funding, it says cuts would take effect in the 2028-29 school year.
Superintendent Sean Taylor said the proposal would maintain existing staffing and programs, not add them. About $16.5 million is earmarked for roughly 300 current positions, including teachers, administrators, counselors and school resource officers. Another $3.5 million would support social workers, whom the district has expanded since 2016, and $3.5 million would go to career and technical education, arts and world-language programs.
The career and technical pathways include HVAC, biotechnology and entrepreneurship. The referendum would also distribute an estimated $357,820 to eligible charter schools serving students who live within the district. The amount would be based on charter enrollment, and schools serving adult or virtual students would not qualify.
The vote comes as Indiana school districts face changes to property-tax revenue and requirements to share some property-tax funding with charter schools. Rising living costs may also weigh on voters deciding whether to approve another tax measure.
If voters reject the proposal again in 2028, Taylor said the district would need to reconsider positions added since 2016 while addressing a potential budget reduction of more than $20 million. The district warns that cuts could mean larger classes and reductions in special education, school resource officers and student mental-health services.
A local political action committee, Washington Township Parents in Support of Public Education, has raised slightly more than $25,000 for a campaign supporting the referendum, co-founder Leslie Bowles said. The group is using mailers, yard signs and text messages. Americans for Prosperity is organizing opposition to school referendums statewide. The group’s Indiana director, Cody White, said protecting taxpayers matters alongside the importance of schools.
Early voting continues through Nov. 2. Election Day is Nov. 3.