Between now and October 13, 2026, every county, city, town, township, school corporation, and library district in Indiana will publish a "Notice to Taxpayers" — Budget Form 3 — announcing its proposed 2027 budget and property tax levy. Our fall hearings guide covers the calendar, the hearings, and the objection process; this post decodes the notice document itself, because the form is short, jargon-dense, and routinely misread.
Where the Notices Live
Units no longer buy newspaper ads for this. Under IC 6-1.1-17-3(a), each unit submits its notice through the DLGF's computer gateway at least ten days before its public hearing, and the department publishes it at budgetnotices.in.gov. The site lets you search by street address (it maps the units taxing your parcel), browse by county, or look up a unit directly, and it offers email alerts. The DLGF also maintains a phone line for mailed copies — the statute requires it. Per the DLGF's 2026 Budget Calendar, October 13 is the last posting day that leaves time to finish the process; fiscal-year schools appear under a separate tab.
Note
The address search is convenient but not exhaustive — the site itself cautions that some special districts may not surface for every address. Cross-check the taxing units listed on your last tax bill (decoded in how to read your bill) against the units the search returns.
The Fields, One by One
IC 6-1.1-17-3(a) dictates the notice's contents. On the form you will see, per fund and in total:
| Field | What it actually means |
|---|---|
| Estimated budget | Planned 2027 spending — bigger than the levy because it is also funded by income taxes, fees, and state distributions |
| Estimated maximum levy | The unit's levy ceiling as computed by the DLGF under the maximum levy growth quotient |
| Current tax levy | Property tax dollars certified for 2026, by fund |
| Proposed tax levy | Property tax dollars requested for 2027, by fund |
| Percentage change | Proposed vs. current levy, by fund — the single most-quoted and most-misread number |
| Excessive levy appeals | Amounts requested above the max levy (annexation, growth, shortfall appeals) |
| Circuit breaker estimate | The DLGF's estimate of revenue the unit loses to tax cap credits |
| Hearing and adoption details | Date, time, and place of the public hearing, plus the later meeting to fix and finally adopt the budget |
Notice what is not on the form: your tax rate. Rates are derived after certification — levy divided by net assessed value — which is why a levy can rise while a rate falls in a district with strong AV growth, a dynamic visible in the county rate tables.
The Advertised Levy Is a Ceiling
The most useful legal fact for reading Form 3: under IC 6-1.1-18-1, a unit may not adopt a budget or levy exceeding the amount it published — any excess is void. Adopting less is always allowed. Units therefore advertise high on purpose, preserving room to maneuver, and the DLGF later certifies no more than what the levy limits permit.
So a startling percentage change is the opening of a conversation, not the outcome. The sharp questions at the hearing are: Why advertise at (or above) the maximum levy? What in the budget column requires the increase? How much of the gap between budget and levy is expected from the new local income tax tools? Referendum levies approved by voters — like the ones profiled in our November 2026 referenda preview — ride outside these caps entirely.
Tip
Compare the proposed levy against the estimated maximum levy, not just against last year. A unit proposing well under its maximum is leaving capacity unused; a unit at the ceiling plus excessive levy appeals is claiming every dollar available. That single comparison tells you more than the percentage-change column.
What Happens After the Notice
The notice's hearing date starts a fixed sequence under IC 6-1.1-17-5: the public hearing (last possible day October 23, 2026, and at least ten days before adoption), a seven-day window in which ten or more taxpayers may file an objection petition the fiscal body must answer with written findings, adoption by November 2, 2026, and DLGF review. The certified result eventually lands in a budget order like the one we dissected for Marion County. The 2026-adopted levy ordinance hearing requirement adds a second, dedicated levy hearing for many units this fall.
If a unit misses its filings, the penalty is built in: its most recent annual appropriations and levy are simply continued for 2027 (IC 6-1.1-17-3(d) and 17-5(f)) — occasionally the quiet best-case for taxpayers.
Budget Form 3 sets the levy side of your 2027 bill; your assessment sets your share of it. See how your parcel's assessed value compares across your district with the Indiana explorer, and find every other official tool in the free tools directory.