AP story reported in the Fort Wayne News Sentinel:
Indiana's three-year-old property tax caps have left some once-wealthy, homeowner-dependent school districts struggling while others that have courted businesses and industry have become rich.
Household incomes in Zionsville are more than twice as high as those in Lebanon, but Zionsville's schools are strapped for cash while Lebanon is preparing to spend $40 million to expand and renovate its high school, the Indianapolis Business Journal reports.
The two districts' financial outlooks contrast sharply from where they were in early 2007. Back then, Zionsville was growing by using its high-quality schools to attract high-end residents who built high-end homes. Lebanon's enrollment was stagnant through the 1990s and grew only slightly in the 2000s, while its spending per student remained below state averages.
...
The Legislature "changed the game" in 2008, said Dax Norton, a Zionsville resident and executive director of the Boone Economic Development Corp., based in Lebanon.
"The General Assembly basically said, 'If you want to continue to survive, if you want to continue to innovate, you're going to have to play the economic development game,' " he said.
That's what Lebanon had done over the past 20 years, taking action to replace declining manufacturing employment with logistics businesses. Tenants in the Lebanon Business Park, which opened in 1994, now account for more than 10 percent of the schools' tax base. Lebanon schools also stand to gain as new businesses like Amazon and Medco Health Solutions begin to produce tax revenue.
Meanwhile, Zionsville school officials are asking voters in a May 8 referendum to approve a $4.7 million annual property tax increase. Without it, they say, 10 to 15 teachers will be laid off, in addition to 16 who lost their jobs after a previous referendum failed.
By contrast, Lebanon voters approved a 2010 referendum that allowed local schools to sell $40 million in bonds to finance an expansion and renovation of the high school.
...
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120409/NEWS/120409593
