Indianapolis homeowners will see a school funding question on the November 2026 ballot, and the number attached to it is now official. On June 22, 2026, the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation (IPEC) voted unanimously to ask voters to approve a four-year operating referendum at 37.2 cents per $100 of assessed value, effective in 2027.
If you own property inside the IPS boundary, this is not an abstract policy debate. It is a specific line on your future tax bill — one that sits outside the tax caps that limit everything else. Here is the math.
What Was Actually Approved
IPEC — the body created in 2025 to oversee referendums for all public schools serving the IPS boundary — considered rates ranging from 19 to 55 cents per $100 of assessed value before settling on 37.2 cents. The board chair framed the choice as finding "not a perfect number, because there is no perfect number, but the right number."
The measure now goes to voters on November 3, 2026. If it passes, collections begin with 2027 tax bills.
The revenue side is straightforward:
- The rate would generate about $87.8 million per year.
- Under state law, that revenue is split evenly between IPS and roughly 60 charter schools that enroll students living within the district's borders — approximately $43.9 million each. This equal-split mechanism is new; we covered how it works in detail in our post on the IPEC property tax sharing arrangement.
- The four-year term is shorter than the eight years typical of Indiana operating referendums — officials recommended the shorter window to address transitional needs.
The Homeowner Cost Math
The rate replaces, rather than stacks on top of, the current referendum. Taxpayers today pay 19.6 cents per $100 of assessed value under the 2018 operating referendum, which generates roughly $49 million a year and expires at the end of December 2026. So the question on the ballot is effectively: replace a 19.6-cent levy with a 37.2-cent one.
Per the board presentation, a home at the district's median assessed value of about $150,000 would pay roughly $221 per year under the new rate. That is about $8.71 a month — roughly $105 a year — more than the current rate (IPS's own materials put the increase at approximately $115 annually for the same $150,000 home, so budget for something in the $105–$115 range).
Note what that $221 figure implies: the rate applies to your net assessed value after deductions, not your gross AV. A homestead at $150,000 gross AV pays far less than the naive $558 ($150,000 × 0.372%) because homestead deductions strip out a large share of the base first. Scaling the district's own median-home math to other price points gives a reasonable estimate:
| Gross assessed value (homestead) | Estimated annual referendum cost | Estimated monthly |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | ~$147 | ~$12 |
| $150,000 (district median) | ~$221 | ~$18 |
| $200,000 | ~$295 | ~$25 |
| $250,000 | ~$369 | ~$31 |
| $300,000 | ~$442 | ~$37 |
These estimates scale linearly from the district's published $221-at-$150,000 example. Your actual bill depends on your specific deductions, so treat the table as a planning number, not an invoice.
Warning
Non-homestead property — rentals, second homes, commercial parcels — does not get homestead deductions. A landlord with a $150,000 rental inside the IPS boundary pays the full 37.2 cents on a much larger net base, and the cost typically flows through to rents. If you own investment property in the district, run the math on your net AV, not the median-home example.
Why This Levy Sits Outside the Tax Caps
Indiana's constitutional circuit breaker caps residential homestead bills at 1% of gross assessed value — but voter-approved referendum levies are excluded from the cap calculation. That is the entire point of putting the question on a ballot: revenue approved directly by voters is collected on top of whatever the caps would otherwise allow.
Two practical consequences follow:
- You pay the full referendum amount even if you are already at your cap. Many Indianapolis homesteads are capped — see our breakdown of Indianapolis property tax cap exposure. For those owners, the referendum is a genuine dollar-for-dollar addition, not a reshuffling of a bill that was going to hit the cap anyway.
- The referendum is one of the few levers left for IPS. Circuit breaker losses already carve tens of millions out of what the district's regular levies would otherwise collect — a dynamic we detailed in our post on Marion County cap losses and IPS school funding. Referendum revenue is immune to that erosion, which is exactly why districts lean on it.
If It Passes — and If It Fails
If it passes: collections at 37.2 cents begin in 2027, generating about $87.8 million a year split between IPS and participating charters. The money is earmarked for educator retention and compensation and student support services, including special education and learning interventions. Even so, passage does not end the district's budget squeeze — IPS has said it still must cut about $20 million more, on top of the $24 million already cut in 2026.
If it fails: the 2018 referendum expires regardless in December 2026. IPS says a failed vote means an additional $40–45 million annual budget reduction beyond the $24 million already cut, with possible staffing freezes, reduced transportation, and the potential closure of support programs. The roughly 60 charter schools that would have shared the revenue get nothing from this mechanism either.
Indiana school referendums are not automatic wins — voters across the state delivered mixed verdicts just last month, as we covered in our recap of the May 2026 school referendum results. A rate nearly double the expiring one, landing in the same cycle as broader property tax reform, will get scrutiny.
What Indianapolis Property Owners Should Do Now
The referendum rate is fixed by the ballot question — you cannot appeal it. What you can control is the assessed value it multiplies against. Every dollar of excess AV on your record card costs you at the referendum rate plus your regular capped rate, and referendum dollars ignore the cap entirely.
Before November, it is worth confirming your assessment is right:
- Check your record card. Square footage, grade, condition, and features drive your AV. Errors compound under a higher rate.
- Compare against your neighbors. If similar homes nearby carry lower assessments, that gap is appealable evidence.
- Know your net AV. Your deductions determine how much of the 37.2 cents you actually feel.
Our Indiana property explorer lets you pull your parcel and compare assessed values across your neighborhood in Marion County. If your assessment looks high, our tax appeal service builds the comparable-sales evidence and files on your behalf — so that whatever voters decide in November, the rate at least applies to the right number.