School District Referendum Support (Cedar Lake, Hanover: homes, theater, teacher salaries)

[iidreamtheaterii]

I was wondering if anyone has any insight on the history of these sorts of things. Clearly, Cedar Lake is attempting one of the options to uphold the extra efforts to raise the grading of the schools with extra teachers with a property tax increase. If this fails to get enough support whether it's "I vote no" or "doesn't get enough, because of low polling" then what happens next?

Hanover seeks referendum support : Cedar Lake Community

Do the extra hired teachers lose their jobs immediately in the next school year? Do they stay on the books for another year, gaining more debt until another solution is sought after and implemented? I'm ignorant in how this stuff REALLY works when it all comes down to it.

Living in Lansing, IL in 2009, that election was the Obama year. I know there was MUCH MORE people heading the polls, yet even so a tax increase of something like 29 cents a month was voted 'no' to allow their park districts additional funding to keep the local Pool open. Since it failed, it closed. They just demolished it this spring to remove the dangers of an abandoned pool. So Sad.

Schools are a little different however. Any insights would be helpful for knowledge. Clearly I'll be voting YES.

[svillechris]

Originally Posted by iidreamtheaterii

I was wondering if anyone has any insight on the history of these sorts of things. Clearly, Cedar Lake is attempting one of the options to uphold the extra efforts to raise the grading of the schools with extra teachers with a property tax increase. If this fails to get enough support whether it's "I vote no" or "doesn't get enough, because of low polling" then what happens next?

Hanover seeks referendum support : Cedar Lake Community

Do the extra hired teachers lose their jobs immediately in the next school year? Do they stay on the books for another year, gaining more debt until another solution is sought after and implemented? I'm ignorant in how this stuff REALLY works when it all comes down to it.

Living in Lansing, IL in 2009, that election was the Obama year. I know there was MUCH MORE people heading the polls, yet even so a tax increase of something like 29 cents a month was voted 'no' to allow their park districts additional funding to keep the local Pool open. Since it failed, it closed. They just demolished it this spring to remove the dangers of an abandoned pool. So Sad.

Schools are a little different however. Any insights would be helpful for knowledge. Clearly I'll be voting YES.

I would be lying if I said I knew all of the answers to your questions... but having volunteered to help get the LC referendum passed, I can share what I know.

I don't believe there is any kind of minimum amount of votes required. I think it can be 2 yes votes to 1 no vote and it would still pass. Just 50.1% of Yes votes is needed for it to pass. Being brutally honest, the "Yes" crowd probably doesn't want there to be a 100% turnout, as most people are not going to be in favor of raising taxes when most people in the town don't see a direct benefit to it since most people don't have kids in the district. It's just the reality of it. The goal for the Yes people would be to identify the supporters and make sure they get to the polls, because the Yes crowd will be in the minority overall, in every community. Get the yes people to the polls and don't ruffle any feathers of the serious No crowd that would lead to the No crowd officially organizing a PAC of their own.

The reason you're seeing so many schools resorting to this is because the state (since roughly 2008) is the one that provides the majority of the money in school corporations' General Fund which pays for operating expenses such as teacher salaries, benefits, etc... instead of directly funded by local property taxes. In short, the wealthier the district, the less money they get from the state per-student. Many districts are arguing that the state isn't providing them with enough funding. I tend to agree, but others may not.

It's now illegal/not allowed for a school corporation to have a budget where expenses exceed "revenues". I'm not sure if it's the State of Indiana, the Dept of Education, or the DLGF that requires it, but it's required. So, kind of needless to say, but if the state doesn't provide them with enough funding, they can't be in the red so they have to cut. Don't quote me on this, but I BELIEVE a budget is submitted every year, so if a school corp is projecting their "revenues" based on enrollment and expected state funding, they have to make sure their expenses are under that amount. But, I think budgets are submitted well in advance of a school year starting, so a staff member may be let go in advance of that upcoming budget. Not positive on the timing of how it all plays out, but that's the jist of it.

Most likely a referendum like Hanover's won't result in too many "new" teachers getting hired, it's more likely to be the case that the current amount of staff and educational offerings would remain, and not have to be cut.

Typically, school corporations will try everything they can to avoid cutting teachers, educational programs or offerings, but some still have to. You're normally going to see janitors, lunch ladies, school bus drivers, and "non-essential staff" i.e. teachers aides let go before actual full-time teachers. They also try enticing certain older teachers to retire earlier than they may otherwise would may have by giving them an enticing retirement package, as it allows them to hire younger and therefore cheaper teachers to take their place.

Not naming names, but some school corporations have been really pro-active since the massive change in 2008 and have really tightened their belts and are now seeing the fruits of their labor, now being able to hire on and add more staff and teachers. Others put it off for years and practically ignored it, and are now in an absolute financial mess. Each corporation is different in how they've handled it over the last 6-8 years, some better than others.

The main thing is getting people to truly understand how it works. Hopefully Hanover will have a website set up by the PAC that explains the facts of the proposal and the true economic impact to each property owner. The main issue I ran into was people thinking that the rate of tax increase would be based on the gross assessed value of the property, when in actuality it is based on the NET assessed value of the property (after the homestead, mortgage, and other deductions/exemptions). That's a huge difference when you're trying to get people to understand the monthly tax increase that they're going to be paying.

Good luck in your efforts and let me know if there's anything else I can help with.

[iidreamtheaterii]

APPROVED!

395 YES
299 NO

So happy that Hanover can continue to increase their programs, improve their facilities and continue to grow as a school system.

Nice work supporters!