Voters in two Hamilton County communities will decide Tuesday whether to approve two referendums totaling $123 million.
The Noblesville and Hamilton Southeastern school districts are asking for an increase in property taxes to fund school expansions. Officials say they’re needed in advance of enrollment increases in the junior and senior levels that are expected to soon surpass current classroom space.
If the referendums fail, they say, both schools districts will face alternative solutions to the space crunch, most likely by using mobile classrooms to offset the growth.
The ballot initiatives are the only items up for vote Tuesday in Hamilton County. Polling locations are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
HSE Superintendent Brian Smith says it’s essential to build classroom space for 1,000 additional students
at both Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern high schools by 2015.
at both Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern high schools by 2015.
Smith and other schools officials have met with homeowners and other groups daily leading up to the vote to explain the complicated tax rate plan the referendum would bring. If it passes, district homeowners would pay a new tax rate but would be affected very differently depending on tax caps, their location and home value.
HSE has passed two referendums worth $100 million since 2009, winning at least 72 percent of the vote each time.
In Noblesville, the $28 million referendum would expand Noblesville High School and relocate students from Noblesville East Middle School to the district’s freshman center.
...
