We disagree with the letter in the July 7 Current about the Westfield Washington Schools referendum — we advocate for voting in favor. The opposing opinion seemed based on some mistaken notions that should be corrected and better understood.
Voters approved the last operating referendum in 2022 by a 2-to-1 margin. It expires this year. The proposed referendum is for eight years. Most years there’s been, and will be, no tax increase. The new referendum replaces the expiring one and lost state revenue.
In 2025, Indiana passed Senate Enrolled Act 1, a property tax law. Cities and school districts lost state funding in that act, with the legislature expecting that funding to be made up by the local community. The law did nothing to reduce schools’ costs when it reduced their funds. Schools can try to pass a local referendum only in even-numbered years, so administrators have to plan far ahead. The big upset was that SEA 1 reduced funds for many districts without sufficient notice to plan workable cuts to staffing and services…