The Gist
Home

Ballot question

WLCSC Referendum Tax Levy (Local Public Question)

On the ballot in
WLCSC Referendum Tax Levy (Tippecanoe County)
Vote
Yes or no
Election
Nov 3, 2026

The question, as printed on the ballot

Shall West Lafayette Community School Corporation increase property taxes paid to the school corporation for no more than eight (8) years for the purpose of funding academic programming and operating expenditures and sustaining educational and operational stability in response to reductions in property tax revenue by imposing a property tax rate that does not exceed $0.5706 and results in a maximum annual amount that does not exceed $16,100,000? If this operating referendum public question is approved by the voters, for a median residence of $350,000, the property's annual property tax bill would increase by $956 per year. The most recent operating referendum public question proposed by the school corporation was held in 2023 and passed.

A “Yes” vote means

Lets WLCSC replace its 37-cent operating referendum tax rate with one of up to $0.5706 per $100 of assessed value, capped at $16.1 million a year, for up to eight years.

A “No” vote means

WLCSC's current 37-cent operating referendum, last approved in 2023, stays in effect until it expires in 2031; the district says its next chance to put a referendum on the ballot is November 2028.

Official plain English statement

West Lafayette Community School Corporation asks voters to replace its current operating referendum tax rate of $0.37 per $100 of assessed value, approved in 2010 and renewed in 2017 and 2023 and set to run through 2031, with a rate of up to $0.5706 for up to eight years, capped at $16.1 million a year. The school corporation says the higher ceiling is meant to make up property tax revenue lost under the 2025 state tax law (SEA 1), and that the board would levy only the rate needed to keep revenue at previously projected levels.

On the ballot as "WLCSC REFERENDUM TAX LEVY" (Local Public Question). Voted on only within the West Lafayette Community School Corporation. The school corporation says the ballot's $956-a-year figure for a $350,000 median home counts the whole referendum tax, including the 37-cent levy already in place, and that depending on home value and tax relief a homeowner's school taxes may fall, stay the same or rise by a few dollars a year; the board may keep the 37-cent rate for 2027.

Sources

The question and plain English statement are copied word for word from official election materials. The Gist does not take a side on ballot questions.