Monroe County Community School Corp. asking voters to again approve tax referendum

Voters in the MCCSC district approved a referendum in the 2010 election that raised property taxes to restore much of what was lost in the initial cut, and add programs and resources. The increase of up to 14 cents per $100 of assessed valuation was approved for six years.

Educators fear that if voters don’t renew the referendum on Nov. 8, the district could see the effects of 2010 all over again.

The 2010 referendum has brought in about $7.5 million each year of its existence. With it, MCCSC has been able to get class sizes close to what they were before the budget cuts, hire special instructors focused on literacy, restore programs that had been on the chopping block and raise both graduation rates and standardized test scores.

The 2016 referendum renewal proposes to do just as much with less, calling for a property tax rate of 11.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That comes to about $86 annually for a home with an assessed value of $165,000, as opposed to the $97 annually of the 2010 referendum. MCCSC would supplement the referendum budget with money from its reserve operating fund, which has been built back to about $21 million from the $818,630 it had dropped to before the 2010 referendum.