An operating referendum allows local voters to decide whether their school corporation may collectadditional local property-tax revenue to support the day-to-day costs of educating students.Operating referendum funding may be used for needs such as teachers and staff, student programs,transportation, school safety and health services, and other educational and operational expenses.Operating referendums have become a common part of school funding in Indiana. Nearly one in fourtraditional public school corporations, 23.7%, currently have an operating referendum in place.

This is a new operating referendum. Oak Hill United School Corporation does not currently have anoperating referendum that this question would renew or replace.If approved, the referendum would begin in 2027 and could continue for no more than eight years, through 2034.Oak Hill is not alone in using an operating referendum to address local school funding needs. 23.7% of Indiana's traditional public school corporations currently have operating referendums in place.

The referendum is intended to help maintain educational and operational stability at Oak Hill.For 2027, the adopted Revenue Spending Plan estimates $715,467 in referendum revenue. The planidentifies four major areas: health and safety initiatives, including school resource officers and nurses; supporting, attracting, and retaining teachers and staff; maintaining class sizes and student transportation; and academic and support programs for students.The spending plan will change over the eight-year referendum period as the amount of revenue needed changes. SEA 1 continues to phase in through 2031, lowering the taxable value of property throughout the Oak Hill district. As taxable value declines, the amount of referendum revenue and the rate needed to maintain stable funding will also change.Oak Hill's financial planning is designed to respond to those changes while remaining within the maximum limits approved by voters.

Oak Hill United School Corporation is facing several financial pressures at the same time.Oak Hill receives $7,480 in state support per student, compared with a state average of $7,734. With 1,478 students, receiving the state average would mean approximately $375,000 more each year for Oak Hill.Oak Hill also operates with less revenue and lower spending than many similar school corporations. Oak Hill receives about $1,000 less total revenue per student than the Indiana average, and its operations revenue per student falls in the bottom 25% of Indiana school districts.At the same time, costs for transportation, special education, utilities, insurance, staffing, and otherservices have continued to increase. Oak Hill's financial analysis shows that expenditures grew much faster than revenues over the period studied.Then SEA 1 changed Indiana's property-tax system. A parcel-by-parcel review of the entire Oak Hill school district tax base modeled how new deductions, credits, business personal-property exemptions, and other changes affect the taxable value available to support local schools.The referendum is intended to provide more stable operating funding as those changes are phased in.

Senate Enrolled Act 1 of 2025 made major changes to Indiana's property-tax system.Among those changes, larger homestead deductions phase in through 2031; new deductions apply to other 2% property, including apartments, long-term care facilities and agricultural property; a newhomestead tax credit reduces qualifying homeowner tax bills; the business personal-property exemption threshold increases; and the methodology affecting farmland taxable value changes.Those changes can provide property-tax relief to many taxpayers. They also reduce the taxable value or tax liability available to support local governments and school corporations.Oak Hill's financial analysis also projects growth in unfunded property-tax credits and circuit-breakerlosses. These reduce the revenue the school corporation actually receives.A parcel-by-parcel review of the entire Oak Hill United School Corporation tax base was used to estimate the local effect rather than relying only on statewide averages. That analysis projects multiple years of declining taxable value before the district's tax base begins to stabilize.

SEA 1 can provide tax relief to property owners while at the same time reducing revenue available to local schools.The new deductions, exemptions and credits reduce taxable value or tax liability. That means Oak Hill can collect less revenue from existing property-tax levies even while the cost of operating the school corporation continues.The purpose of the referendum is to provide stable funding as those reductions are phased in.Under Indiana law, an operating referendum is the mechanism available to a school corporation to ask local voters to authorize an additional operating property-tax levy. In Oak Hill's situation, it allows the community to decide whether to replace a portion of the revenue being reduced as SEA 1 lowers the district's taxable property base.