As a former high school English and journalism teacher, Carmel Clay Schools Supt. Michael Beresford is a strong believer in the power of words.
That’s why he is troubled by the state-mandated wording of the Nov. 7 ballot question asking voters whether they want to extend the district’s operating referendum for eight years at its existing rate of 19 cents per $100 of assessed home value. He believes the wording of the question could make it appear the district is increasing the referendum tax rate rather than extending it to the existing level.
The ballot question asks Carmel voters if CCS shall “continue to impose property taxes paid to the school corporation” at the “current maximum referendum rate.” The next sentence, however, states that the referendum “will increase the average property tax paid to the school corporation per year on a residence within the school corporation by 28.3%.” Beresford said he worries the language will lead many voters to believe CCS is asking to raise the rate nearly 30 percent beyond where it is now.
“Volunteering at the polls last week, my fears were confirmed,” Beresford said. “I spoke with multiple early voters who were frustrated after reading the question and even had one current parent tell me if I weren’t there he would have voted no, thinking it was a rate increase. It’s scary to think about the thousands of people who will read the question for the first time and make a decision based on misleading language.”
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a law in May that updates the language school districts are required to use when asking voters to extend a referendum. The bill was authored by Rep. Craig Snow, a Republican representing northern Indiana’s District 22, who did not respond to a request for comment.
Larry DeBoer, a Purdue University professor who has studied school referenda in Indiana, said CCS is not the only district in the state concerned about the “peculiar way ballot questions are worded.” For example, Lake Station Community Schools, like CCS, is seeking a renewal of its operating referendum at the same rate, but the ballot in that district states that average property taxes will increase by more than 47 percent.
In attempting to provide more information about referendum benefits and costs, ballot questions have become longer, DeBoer said, as the average ballot question in 2012 was 60 words. The CCS ballot question this year is 136 words; when Carmel voters initially approved the existing rate in 2017 the ballot question was 74 words.
DeBoer said that the 28.3 percent tax increase mentioned in the ballot question refers to what the school district’s rate would be without the referendum (67 cents per $100 of assessed property value) compared to the rate with the referendum in place (86 cents per $100 of assessed property value). He said voters would be wrong to think the referendum renewal will increase their total tax bills by 28 percent.
“The referendum rate is not new, it already was part of the tax bill in 2023, and people usually are more concerned with their total tax bills, not just their school tax bills,” DeBoer said. “The total tax rate for most Carmel Clay Schools taxpayers is 2.0626 (per $100 of assessed property value). Without the referendum rate it would be 1.8726. So, if the referendum were not already in effect, passing it would increase total tax bills by 10 percent. And the increase in tax bills from what’s being paid in 2023 is 0 percent – it’s just a continuation of the existing rate.”
He said the question posed to voters might be clearer if the ballot reflected the impact on tax rates if the referendum fails, which would be a 9 percent drop in the total tax rate in Carmel.
Administrators from CCS and other districts have reached out to state legislators to express their concerns about the “remarkably misleading” ballot language, Beresford said, but for this year, it’s here to stay.
“There are thousands of Carmel residents with no students in schools, and they will see the referendum question for the first time on the ballot,” he said. “Especially for those retirees on fixed incomes, the question is downright scary. But again, it’s a renewal, there is no increased rate.”
The ballot question
The ballot question asking Carmel voters to extend the operating referendum reads:
“Shall Carmel Clay Schools continue to impose increased property taxes paid to the school corporation by homeowners and businesses for eight (8) years immediately following the holding of the referendum for the purpose of retaining and attracting teachers, educational staff, and other support staff and fund educationally related programs at the current maximum referendum tax rate of $0.19 per one hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valuation? The property tax increase requested in this referendum was originally approved by the voters in 2017 and if extended will increase the average property tax paid to the school corporation per year on a residence within the school corporation by 28.3% and if extended will increase the average property tax paid to the school corporation per year on a business property within the school corporation by 28.3%.”
