Voters in Blue River and Prairie Townships will decide in May if they want a new property tax to pay for local teacher salaries.
Leading up to the May 7 election date, Blue River Valley Schools Superintendent Trent McCormick is hosting a series of community presentations explaining the proposed referendum.
The next community meeting is at 7 p.m. March 4 at Mt. Summit Community Room, 101 N. Church St., Mt. Summit.
BRV tax increase request 'a sad reality'
Indiana teachers are paid from their school’s Education Fund. The Education Funds receive money based on student enrollment, rather than directly through property tax revenue.
School corporations are allowed to transfer funds from their Education Funds to their Operations Funds to cover costs not directly associated to student instruction and learning.
The Operations Funds receives money from local property taxes.
McCormick said Blue River Valley School Corporation’s 2023 Operations Fund lost about $466,570 to property tax caps.
McCormick and the BRV school board are in favor of a 19-cent increase in property taxes as a way to avoid the tax caps and increase teacher pay.
If voters accept the referendum, a 19-cent levy (per $100,000 assessed value) will be added to each property tax bill for the next eight years. This new tax would be applied after homestead and other standard deductions are applied.
For a property with a gross assessed value (before deductions) of $100,000, the property owner would see an increase of $5.35 per month or an increase of $64.20 on their annual bill.
If voters adopt the 19-cent property tax referendum, the total certified tax rate for Blue River School Corporation will increase to about $1.9813 for every $100,000.
Salaries and tax rates
The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) shows that Blue River Valley teachers have a starting salary of $40,000.
This is the lowest starting salary among Henry and Wayne County schools. It is also the lowest starting salary for the Mid-Eastern Conference, which is composed of similarly-sized schools.
At the same time, the DLGF shows that Blue River Valley School Corporation currently has the highest certified tax rate among school districts that serve Henry County families.
The properties in Blue River Valley School Corporation have a total certified assessed value (AV) of $189,449,291. The current debt service tax rate for every $100,000 of AV is $0.9374. The current operations tax rate is $0.8539. The total certified tax rate for Blue River School Corporation is $1.7913 for every $100,000 of AV.
The properties in Charles A. Beard Memorial School Corporation have a total certified AV of $268,129,947. The current debt service tax rate is $0.7876. The current operations tax rate is $0.6273. The total certified tax rate for Charles A. Beard Memorial School Corporation is $1.4149.
The properties in Nettle Creek School Corporation have a total certified AV of $39,495,934. The current debt service tax rate is $0.3999. The current operations tax rate is $0.5529. The total certified tax rate for Nettle Creek School Corporation is $0.9528.
The properties in New Castle Community School Corporation have a total certified AV of $760,481,692. The current debt service tax rate is $0.4011. The current operations tax rate is $0.8360. The total certified tax rate for New Castle Community School Corporation is $1.2371.
The properties in Shenandoah School Corporation have a total certified AV of $435,789,571. The current debt service tax rate is $0.3212. The current operations tax rate is $0.5463. The total certified tax rate for Shenandoah School Corporation is $0.8675.
The properties in South Henry School Corporation have a total certified AV of $253,876,035. The current debt service tax rate is $0.4980. The current operations tax rate is $0.5627. The total certified tax rate for South Henry School Corporation is $1.0607.
The properties in Union School Corporation have a total certified AV of $39,805,368. The current debt service tax rate is $0.2346. The current operations tax rate is $05552. The total certified tax rate for Union School Corporation is $0.7898.