It appears the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Administration has settled on a specific referendum recommendation to present to the school board for a vote Monday night.  Based on a Web site posting, administrators will present to the board a referendum amount of 22.75 cents per $100 of assessed property tax valuation.  The current referendum is about to expire after 7 years.  It provided a 10 cent increase, so school officials are recommending raising the current rate by 12.75 cents.

The proposed tax increase would mean an additional $17 million for local schools over the next 7 years.

Actual property tax bills are a bit more complicated, since residential homeowners are allowed deductions and the property tax caps can impact different individual taxpayers in various ways.

The board was set to hold the referendum last year, but decided to delay the process in order to hold meetings with school employees and people in the community for feedback. School Superintendent Allen Bourff has told board members on more than one occasion that the most often mentioned comment in these meetings is that the school system should ensure whatever is requested is enough to take care of the school corporation’s needs

In the posting on the HSE Web site, school officials list three goals to be achieved through the extra money gleaned from a referendum:

• Reduce Class Sizes
• Attract and Retain Quality Teachers
• Prepare Students for Global Competition

The school board is expected to vote on the referendum issue at Monday night’s meeting.

Based on the school board decision, voters will resolve the issue in the May 3rd primary election.