By Sarah Lang
Staff writer
Lebanon — Within the past year, 33 Indiana school corporations have placed 37 referendum questions on the ballot, according to the Database of Indiana School Referenda by the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy. The referenda to raise taxes were either to supplement operating budgets or for construction or renovation projects.
Last spring 16 corporations held referenda. Five operating referenda passed; four failed. Three construction referenda passed; four failed.
And last fall, 21 corporations had referenda. Four operating passed; two failed. Two construction passed; 13 failed.
Many factors likely affected the outcomes of these referenda, such as the purpose of the referenda (operating or construction), the financial situation of the corporation or the amount of proposed bonds and the resulting tax rate increase the referendum asks for.
But one possible influence is the existence of political action committees, and whether they are in support of or in opposition to the referendum. To campaign for or against a school referendum, PACs must be formed in order to raise funds. A phone call in to each of the corporations, asking if any PACs formed in response to its referendum, produced the following results.
With one PAC supporting the referendum, the pass-fail likelihood is roughly 50-50. In these school corporations, six referenda in five corporations passed (four operating and two construction) and seven referenda in six corporations failed (four operating and three construction).
