By Stacy Grove, West Lafayette Realtor

If you live in West Lafayette, you’ve probably started hearing about the schools referendum on this November’s ballot. I want to walk you through what it actually does, what it means for your tax bill, and, since this is what I spend my days thinking about, what it means for your home’s value.

Last year, the Indiana legislature passed Senate Enrolled Act 1 (SEA 1). It changes how property taxes are calculated across the state and the practical effect is that it shrinks the taxable assessed value schools rely on. Same tax rate but fewer dollars collected.

For West Lafayette Community School Corporation, that’s not a small problem. Referendum funds (which are extra local property tax revenues approved by voters in the school district) already make up close to 25% of the district’s budget. They pay salaries and benefits for more than 50 teachers, plus custodial, maintenance, and transportation costs. Under SEA 1, the district projects it will lose about $1.6 million a year in revenue by 2031 if nothing changes.

This referendum isn’t a request for new money to expand programs. It’s a request to adjust the tax rate so the district can keep funding what it already funds. Before even bringing it to voters, the district had already found over $400,000 in recurring savings through staff attrition and contract efficiencies.

So what?

The maximum proposed rate is 57.06 cents per $100 of assessed value, phased in gradually from 2027 through 2031. It would be the first rate increase the district has asked for since 2010.

Here’s a concrete example of what that means. Say your $300k home has a net assessed value of about $157,500 today. At the current 37-cent rate, that generates roughly $583 for the schools. Under SEA 1, that same home’s net assessed value could drop to somewhere around $100,000—and at the old 37-cent rate, that only generates about $370. The district loses funding even though nothing about the tax rate changed.

The referendum lets the rate adjust to offset that, bringing revenue back to roughly where it started. For most homeowners, that means your actual bill lands somewhere between about the same and a few dollars more a year, not the dramatic increase the legally required ballot language might suggest at first glance. (The district has been upfront that the ballot language, which state law dictates, doesn’t reflect what any individual homeowner will actually pay, since actual impact depends on your specific assessed value, exemptions, and deductions.)

Here’s the part that’s relevant to my job as a Realtor specifically, not just as a resident.

West Lafayette homes carry a real price premium. Looking at the last 24 months of single-family home sales:

District	Homes Sold	Median Price	Price/Sq Ft
West Lafayette	248	$385,000	$213.41
Harrison (TSC)	1,301	$373,900	$196.31
Jefferson (LSC)	1,143	$220,000	$171.03

That’s roughly a 9% premium over Harrison and a 25% premium over Jefferson. Schools aren’t the only reason for that gap, but they’re a meaningful part of it. When I talk to buyers about why they’re choosing West Lafayette over a less expensive option nearby, the school district comes up almost every time.

Scarcity matters here too. West Lafayette is essentially landlocked. Only 248 homes changed hands here in the last two years, compared to over 1,300 in the Harrison district and over 1,100 in the Jefferson district. That’s a fraction of the inventory turnover. In a market that tight, what happens to the district carries extra weight, because there’s no new supply coming to offset any shift in desirability.

This community has consistently backed its schools. The last two operating referendums here passed with 80% approval in 2023 and 94% in 2017. West Lafayette isn’t the only district facing this dilemma. More than 35 Indiana school districts have referendums on the ballot this November, all responding to the same SEA 1 revenue changes.

The vote happens on or before November 3rd. If you want the full breakdown directly from the school corporation, including their FAQ on ballot language, it’s all at wlvote26.com, and Dr. Greiner’s office is available directly for questions.

My take as someone who watches this market closely: A small, mostly-offsetting adjustment to your tax bill is a known, modest cost. A school district that loses funding instead of having it replaced is a much bigger unknown and unknowns are exactly the kind of thing that shows up, eventually, in a market’s price per square foot.

If you want to talk through what any of this means for your specific property, reach out any time.