Operating Referendum

A Referendum is a general vote by the electorate (eligible voters) on a single political question that has been referred to them for a direct decision.

Beginning in 2010, when Indiana fully implemented property tax caps and reduced revenue to local governments, the Indiana legislature put in place a referendum process allowing schools to place a question on the ballot seeking additional funding.

Avon-Washington Township voters approved (in 2018) and then renewed (in 2025) an Operating Referendum.

Operating Referendums can be used to cover day-to-day costs like staff, programs, and services. Avon Schools specifically uses Operating Referendum funds to 1) decrease our class sizes, 2) hire and retain excellent educators, and 3) provide additional student supports.

There are two other types of Referendums Indiana schools can run:

• Construction Referendums are used for building and renovation projects.
• Safety Referendums are used for school safety improvements and the hiring of school resource officers. 

In Avon Schools, no Operating Referendum funds are ever used for construction, technology/equipment, or administrator salaries.  The ACSC Operating Referendum funds instruction, not construction.

State law indicates a referendum cannot exceed eight years before a school district must go back to the voters and ask for it to be renewed.

Avon-Washington Township voters approved an Operating Referendum in 2018 and renewed it in 2025.

Tax caps have been in place in Indiana since 2009. Property taxes are based on the Net Assessed Value (NAV) of your property (1% for residential, 2% for apartments/farmland, 3% for commercial). This means, as homeowners, we only pay 1% of our NAV.

​If you’ve seen increases in your tax bill that’s because your net assessed value has increased significantly. ​

Avon schools does not control NAV. What we can influence is our tax rate. Our board has been fiscally responsible and has dropped our tax rates. As of 2025, the Debt Service tax rate is down 21.3% and the Referendum tax rate is down 32.1%.

Property Tax Caps are in the Indiana Constitution and "cap" property taxes at 1% for residential, 2% for apartments/farmland, and 3% for all other property (including business). A successful referendum may result in property taxes that exceed property tax caps.

Since property tax caps were instituted in Indiana, Avon Schools has forfeited more than $100 million in funding.

Referendum funds CAN be used for:

• Reduced class sizes to optimize student learning
• Competitive pay to recruit and retain excellent teachers
• Additional student supports (e.g., instructional assistants, school resource officers, extra-curricular opportunities, and clubs)

Referendum funds CANNOT be used for:

• Construction and renovation projects
• Transportation needs
• Administrative salaries
• Technology upgrades

As a part of the Referendum Renewal process, the ACSC Board of School Trustees approved a Revenue Spending Plan outlining funds for each of the priorities outlined in 2018 that continue to be the focus beyond the 2025 renewal.  This plan was submitted to the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) for their approval prior to the Referendum being placed on the ballot.

ACSC Revenue Spending Plan

School finance can be a complicated topic. To help our friends and neighbors better understand school finance, our CFO Sheila Glass and a couple of special friends created a video series called Dollars & Sense with Sheila and Friends.

The series covered the following topics:

• How We Pay Educators
• How We Pay for Buildings, Buses, and More
• How the Referendum Works
• Understanding Fund Accounting
• Advocating for School Funding
• Financing School Construction
• Making the Most of Every Dollar
• Accountability and Reporting
• And more!

You can view the series on our Finance webpage.

No. In Indiana, school funding follows the child. Since property tax caps were enacted, our advocacy to our legislators has been to fund us to inflation.

The following chart records the change in year-over-year basic tuition state funding per student. The red line shows the average ( estimated for 2026 and 2027) annual US inflation rate. There have been three seasons, highlighted by the red arrows, during which state funding has trended below inflation. First, at around the time of our failed 2011 Referendum, there were three consecutive years of funding that trended well below inflation. The same thing happened in 2017-2019 when we passed our Operating Referendum. Finally, we are again looking ahead to a period of time in which the state is funding schools below inflation.

Every school district is different. State funding allocations vary based on a variety of factors (e.g., complexity/poverty calculations).

Local property tax revenue varies greatly based on the makeup of a community. For example, a heavily commercial community (with more of its tax base capped at 3%) would generate more property tax revenue at a lower tax rate than a community like Avon. Avon-Washington Township’s tax base is 63% residential meaning most of our tax base is capped at 1%.

Prior to the successful 2018 Referendum, Avon Schools was not meeting the needs of our students in the way our community had come to expect — due to inadequate state funding. Class sizes were high (30+ students in an elementary class and 30-40 in a secondary class was not uncommon), counselors were shared across elementary schools, related arts teachers (art, music, PE) were shared across elementary schools, and student clubs and extra-curriculars were cut.

Our community wanted more and wanted better for our students and chose to support the Referendum in 2018 and renew it in 2025. Due to our community's support, we now have more resources and more supports to meet students’ needs than we did pre-2018. We have:

• Social Workers and Behavior Specialists that support every school.
• Multi-Lingual Teachers and Instructional Assistants at every school.
• Increased Special Education Teachers and Instructional Assistants across the district.
• Created an Alternative High School Program at Avon Academy in which students are supported by Certified Teachers and not just online curriculum.
• Created OASIS, a specialized program for students with significant behavioral disabilities, that has allowed students to receive services in their home school district.
• Full-time Counselors in every school.
• Full-time Related Arts Teachers in every school.
• Additional Band and Orchestra Teachers.
• Additional Athletic Coaches and Teachers.
• School Resource Officers (SROs) that support every school.
• Maintained Smaller Middle Schools, which was a key focus of community input gathered in 2022 as ACSC planned for strategic growth. There are cost efficiencies in larger Middle Schools – however, given how critical that time is in the lives of our students, our community said they wanted to maintain smaller middle schools (ideally, not larger than 1,000 students).

ACSC also has different demographics than many other school districts. We are the most diverse suburban school district around Indianapolis — which attracts many families to our community and our schools. Approximately 49% of our students are on free/reduced lunch, 17% of our students are multi-lingual, and 15% of our students have a disability. 

Because of our small class sizes and increased supports for students, ACSC’s rank on ILEARN is 25th highest in our state — in the top 10% of Indiana public school districts. There is only one school district ranked above ACSC that has a higher percentage of free/reduced lunch and multi-lingual learners (Speedway Schools, which also has a Referendum that prioritizes smaller class sizes).

Other districts do not offer these same supports and achieve the same results we have been able to in Avon. These supports are what often attracts families to our community and help ACSC attract the best educators to serve in our schools.

The visual below highlights how prevalent Referendums are in Indiana as schools address inadequate state funding to serve their students.

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