INDIANAPOLIS — With three days left before Election Day, Indianapolis voters are being asked to decide one of the most consequential local questions on the November 3 ballot: whether to approve a new property tax referendum that could raise up to $95 million a year for public schools inside Indianapolis Public Schools boundaries.
The question is not only about money. It is about who runs the city’s public schools, how district schools and charter schools share local tax revenue, what happens to teachers and classroom programs if the money does not arrive, and how much homeowners will actually pay once an older school tax expires. On October 31, supporters made a final public push in downtown Indianapolis, standing near a long line of early voters and urging residents to vote yes.
State Senator Andrea Hunley and Indianapolis City-County Councilman Vop Osili, both candidates for mayor, joined state Representative Greg Porter and leaders from Indianapolis Public Schools, the Urban League and the African American Coalition of Indianapolis at Richard G. Lugar Plaza for that October 31 news conference. Their message, as reported by local coverage of the event, was that the referendum is critical to the future operation of the city’s public schools. Critics of the measure, by contrast, argue that it raises taxes without fully protecting district schools from cuts — a disagreement that has shaped much of the campaign.
That tension is worth understanding before Tuesday, because both claims contain part of the picture. Supporters are right that the district faces a difficult budget year even with new revenue. Critics are right that approval alone would not erase the district’s financial problems. What voters are really deciding is how large the next round of cuts would be, and who would control the schools if the district’s finances deteriorate further.
What is on the Indianapolis ballot on November 3?
The ballot question asks whether the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, a new public body known as IPEC, should be allowed to increase property taxes paid to Indianapolis Public Schools and participating charter schools for no more than four years. The stated purpose is funding teacher and staff retention, professional development and academic programs and opportunities.
The rate would not exceed $0.372 per $100 of assessed value, and the maximum annual amount would not exceed $95 million. In practical terms, the referendum is an operating referendum: it would pay for people and programs, not for a single new school building. The spending plan submitted by IPEC divides the money roughly into about $63 million for programming and about $32 million for staff retention and professional development.
The programming side includes support for students with disabilities and students learning English, as well as learning interventions and advanced academic work such as dual-credit courses and work-based learning. The staff side is aimed at recruiting and keeping teachers and other school employees in a labor market where districts across Indiana are competing for the same workers.
Superintendent Aleesia Johnson has described the referendum as essential to the district’s finances. At a campaign kickoff event, she said, according to education coverage of the campaign, “It is absolutely necessary for our district’s financial survival.” That language is strong, but it reflects the district’s own budget warnings: Indianapolis Public Schools expects to make further cuts next year even if voters approve the measure.
What the Indianapolis IPS referendum would cost homeowners
The most confusing part of the campaign for many voters is the cost figure on the ballot itself. The ballot language says that for a median home valued at $150,000, the annual property tax bill would increase by $221 per year. District officials and campaign materials say the real change for many homeowners would be smaller, because the ballot figure does not subtract the tax rate voters are already paying under the district’s 2018 referendum.
That 2018 referendum, which set a rate of 19.6 cents per $100 of assessed value, expires at the end of December 2026. It was originally expected to raise about $27.5 million a year for Indianapolis Public Schools, but rising property values meant it raised around $40 million a year. If the new referendum replaces the old one, the net increase is the difference between the old rate and the new rate, not the full new rate on top of everything else.
Estimates of that net increase have varied slightly depending on the calculation used. A calculator on the district’s website has put the increase at around $100 a year for a typical homeowner in 2027, while the district has also cited figures of about $106 and about $115 a year in different explanations. The differences are relatively small, but they matter for trust: voters who see $221 on the ballot and hear a lower number in campaign material may reasonably ask which number to believe. The honest answer, based on the district’s own explanations, is that $221 is the figure required by state-prescribed ballot language, while the lower figures attempt to show the net effect after the expiring 2018 rate is removed.
Superintendent Johnson has also acknowledged that taxpayers are facing an affordability squeeze. That acknowledgment matters because opposition to the referendum is not only about schools. It is also about household budgets at a time when property taxes, housing costs and other bills have risen. Supporters argue that schools are part of the same household equation: cuts to teachers, special education support and academic programs would be felt by families directly, even if the tax bill were lower.
Why Indianapolis schools say the timing is tight now
Several state policy changes have come together at once for Indianapolis schools. In 2025, Indiana lawmakers made sweeping changes to property taxes that limited the future property tax revenue districts could expect to raise. Lawmakers also limited referendums to general elections, when turnout is higher and, according to education analysts, referendums are less likely to pass. The result is a crowded ballot: Superintendent Johnson has said 38 school districts across Indiana have referendums on the ballot this year, which she described as the highest number in state history.
For Indianapolis Public Schools, another pressure is the cost of special education services, which districts are required by federal law to provide. District officials have estimated a deficit of about $24 million linked to special education costs. That is not a discretionary program that can simply be paused; it is a legal obligation that must be funded from somewhere, and when its cost grows faster than revenue, other parts of the budget feel the squeeze.
The district has already made about $24 million in cuts, according to education coverage of its budget. Even if the referendum passes, officials expect about $20 million more in cuts next school year. That is the fact supporters least like to emphasize and critics most like to repeat: a yes vote would soften the blow, not remove it. The campaign’s argument is therefore comparative rather than absolute — that the cuts without the referendum would be far deeper and more damaging than the cuts with it.
The new body behind the question: IPEC
Voters may notice that the ballot question does not name Indianapolis Public Schools alone. It names the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, or IPEC. That body was created by a new state law in early 2026 and has assumed powers that once belonged to the elected Indianapolis Public Schools board, including legal authority over referendums, debt service and tax levies for schools inside Indianapolis Public Schools boundaries.
IPEC is a nine-member board appointed by the mayor. It also has oversight of buildings, buses and accountability for both Indianapolis Public Schools and Indianapolis charter schools. Its creation is one reason the campaign feels different from past school referendums: the question is being put to voters by an appointed body, under a new state framework, rather than directly by the elected school board that voters chose in earlier elections.
Supporters of the new structure say it creates a single system for public schools in the city, with shared responsibility for transportation, facilities and accountability. Critics, including some district advocates, worry that it dilutes local elected control. The Indianapolis Education Association, the local teachers union, voted against supporting the referendum because it would still require Indianapolis Public Schools to make cuts, and the group has appealed to Mayor Joe Hogsett for a reallocation of referendum revenue to keep the district whole. That internal disagreement is important: opposition does not come only from people who oppose school funding in general. Some of it comes from educators who want the money divided differently.
How the money would be shared with charter schools
One of the largest changes in this referendum is that the money would be shared between Indianapolis Public Schools and charter schools. Under state law, the revenue would be split among Indianapolis Public Schools and around 60 charter schools that enroll students living inside district boundaries and have opted to participate. The split would be based on student enrollment, as specified in state law.
District officials and campaign leaders say roughly half the revenue would go to Indianapolis Public Schools and roughly half would go to charter schools. Superintendent Johnson has estimated the district’s share at about $40 million to $45 million a year. The campaign has said more than 40,000 students would be affected across district and charter schools combined, while Indianapolis Public Schools itself serves more than 30,000 students in central Indianapolis.
Indianapolis Public Schools voluntarily shared some referendum revenue with charter schools before a 2023 law mandated sharing for districts in certain counties, including Marion County. This referendum would extend that sharing to a much larger amount. For charter school advocates, the money could support transportation, a long-standing need for schools that do not operate the same bus systems as traditional districts. For some district advocates, the sharing formula is the core objection: they argue that a tax presented as saving Indianapolis Public Schools would send about half its proceeds elsewhere, leaving the district still short.
At some charter schools, education reporters have noted, it is not yet publicly clear exactly how the money would be spent. IPEC has said it plans to launch a spending tracker for referendum funds, which would allow the public to follow the money after the vote. That promise will matter after Election Day whichever way the vote goes, because voters are being asked to approve a four-year levy, not a one-year experiment.
What supporters and critics say will happen next
The October 31 news conference captured the supporters’ central warning. Black leaders at the event argued that a no vote could lead to a future takeover of Indianapolis Public Schools by the Republican supermajority in the Indiana General Assembly, which they described as long hostile to the city’s public schools. That claim should be read as a political argument by supporters, not as a settled legal forecast: state intervention is presented by the district itself as a possibility if finances deteriorate, but the precise form and timing of any state action would depend on future decisions by state officials.
What the district has stated more directly is the budget consequence of failure. Without referendum revenue, Indianapolis Public Schools expects to need drastic cuts of around $40 million to $45 million, leading to staffing freezes and program closures, and the possibility of state takeover in which appointed managers would handle the district’s finances. Charter schools, which rely primarily on state tuition support and other grants, would feel a failure less sharply because they currently receive only a limited amount of property tax funds.
Mayor Joe Hogsett voiced his full support for the referendum at an October 6 panel discussion hosted by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Indianapolis, saying, according to the district’s account of the event, “I’m here today to express my full support of this referendum and vote yes for IPS.” He framed the measure as an investment in the city’s future rather than a political issue, and warned that without stable funding, the district could face financial challenges that limit local decision-making.
Critics counter that a tax increase during an affordability crisis should not be approved for a plan that still leaves the district cutting $20 million, and they question whether the new IPEC structure gives voters enough direct control over how the money is used. Those are legitimate questions for voters to weigh, even if they ultimately vote yes. A referendum is not a referendum on whether schools matter — almost everyone in the debate says they do — but on whether this tax, this split and this governing structure are the right way to fund them.
How and when Indianapolis voters decide
Only voters who live inside Indianapolis Public Schools boundaries can vote on the referendum. Early voting has been available at the Indianapolis City-County Building since October 6 and runs through November 2. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, when polls decide the question along with mayoral and other local races.
The long line of early voters seen near the October 31 news conference is a reminder that many Indianapolis residents are not waiting until Tuesday. For those still deciding, the district and the yes campaign have published referendum calculators and explanations online, and voters can check their registration and polling place through Indiana’s official voter portal.
Whatever the result, the vote will shape Indianapolis classrooms for the next four years. A yes vote would bring up to $95 million a year into the city’s public schools, shared between district and charter schools, while still requiring difficult budget choices. A no vote would force deeper cuts and raise the prospect of state intervention that supporters warn about and critics dispute in its details. In a city where community groups have long pressed together for public services — a tradition reflected in stories of community leaders who shaped American public life — the referendum is, at its heart, a local decision about what kind of school system Indianapolis is willing to pay for, and who gets to decide how that money is shared.
Sources
USN reviewed reporting from multiple outlets for this story. Read more from Indianapolis Star, Chalkbeat Indiana and Praise Indy.