2026 Operating Referendum · Noblesville Schools
An 8-year property tax increase is on your ballot. Here's the case for voting it down.
This page lays out the referendum in the district's own filed language, what it will actually cost homeowners and renters, and where Noblesville Schools' budget has already been growing — all sourced from public records.
What the ballot actually says
Before anything else, the language voters will see in the booth — as filed with the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.
"Noblesville Schools proposes an operating referendum property tax increase for a period of no more than eight (8) years, for the purpose of funding safety and security measures in all school buildings and maintaining and enhancing academic programs, in response to reductions in property tax revenue. The referendum tax rate will not exceed $0.57 per $100 of assessed valuation, and the maximum annual amount of the referendum tax levy will not exceed $43,842,578."
The official math, step by step
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median Homestead Gross Assessed Value | $335,800 |
| Rounded up to nearest $50,000 | $350,000 |
| Less: Standard Deduction | −$40,000 |
| Less: Supplemental Deduction | −$142,600 |
| Net Assessed Value | $167,400 |
| × Proposed Operating Referendum Rate | 0.5700 |
| Annual Tax Bill Increase (rounded to the next dollar) | $954.18 → $955 |
What it actually costs
The $955 figure is the official estimate for the median home. Most Noblesville homes aren't the median — and renters are exposed too, since landlords get no homestead deduction to soften the hit.
The district's own official estimate, filed with the state.
≈ $103/month, using the neighborhood's own 7.8% average annual appreciation over the last decade.
The kind of home a lot of recent Noblesville buyers own.
Rental property gets no homestead deduction, so the full rate applies. Expect at least $160/month more at your next lease renewal.
How Noblesville compares across Hamilton County
| District | Max rate / $100 | Est. cost, median home |
|---|---|---|
| Noblesville Schools | 57.0¢ | $955 |
| Carmel Clay Schools | 42.7¢ | $1,062 |
| Sheridan Community Schools | 40.0¢ | $454 |
| Westfield Washington Schools | 39.4¢ | $873 |
| Hamilton Southeastern Schools | 36.0¢ | $700 |
Noblesville's maximum rate is the highest of any district in the county this cycle — other districts land on a higher dollar figure only because their median home values are higher.
Where your money is already going
The district says revenue has been cut. Its own budget book tells a fuller story: total spending is up sharply, enrollment is down, and some line items have grown far faster than either.
Per-student spending rose from $11,682 (2020) to $16,843 in the 2026 budget — while inflation over the same period ran about 27%. That's roughly $5,161 extra per student beyond what inflation explains.
Source: Noblesville Schools 2026 Budget BookThe Travel & Tuition line item grew more than 35-fold from 2020 to the proposed 2026 budget — the fastest-growing discretionary category in the book.
Source: 2026 Budget Book, Referendum Highlights sectionBudget growth by fund, 2020 → 2026
| Fund | 2020 | 2022 | 2026 (proposed) | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Educational (state/federal) | $69.70M | $75.10M | $85.04M | +22.0% |
| Operational (local property tax) | $11.40M | $13.80M | $13.97M | +22.5% |
| Referendum (local property tax) | $15.98M | $18.00M | $25.79M | +61.4% |
| Debt Service (local property tax) | $16.20M | $15.80M | $27.20M | +67.9% |
| Exempt Debt (local property tax) | $4.20M | $7.00M | $5.50M | +31.0% |
| Total | $117.48M | $129.70M | $157.50M | +34.1% |
Same taxpayers, different buckets
The district's budget is split into funds — Education, Operations, Referendum, Debt Service, Exempt Debt — and it's tempting to treat building debt as money that comes from somewhere else. It doesn't. Just like a mortgage escrow account splits your payment into "taxes" and "insurance" while it all comes out of the same paycheck, every one of these funds is ultimately paid for by local property taxpayers.
Debt Service is the fastest-growing fund in the budget, up 67.9% since 2020 — and every dollar that goes to debt is a dollar that isn't available for day-to-day Operations.
Top administrator compensation, 2025
| Employee | Role | 2025 compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Hile, Daniel G. | Superintendent · Educational Services Center | $267,737.58 |
| Hortemiller, David P. | Administrator | $177,221.70 |
| Rich, Ryan M. | Administrator | $177,021.70 |
| Hendrich, Heather M. | Administrator | $177,020.74 |
| Swickheimer, Thacker, Wheat Townsend | Administrators (3) | $159,707.35 ea. |
The 2018 promise
This isn't the district's first referendum. The last one ran for eight years and collected far more than it said it would.
What was promised, 2018
≈ $50 million- The amount the 2018 referendum was projected to raise over its 8-year term.
- Actual revenue collected over that same period: roughly $160 million.
The campaign's case
No reserve was kept- Saving the roughly $50 million surplus above what was promised could have funded 2027 and 2028 operations without a new referendum.
- Instead, the district enters this referendum with no cushion — asking voters to cover a gap that responsible reserves could have closed.
How this referendum came together
A timeline compiled from public board meeting minutes and Hamilton County Election Board filings, laying out how far along referendum planning was before it was publicly acknowledged.
- Feb 26, 2026A political action committee formed to pass the referendum opens a bank account.
- Mar 3, 2026The PAC files paperwork with Hamilton County.The same day, the school board holds a closed meeting with an outside consultant.
- Apr 10, 2026The PAC's campaign finance report shows contributions received across February, March, and April.
- Apr 28 & May 19, 2026At public board meetings, Superintendent Daniel Hile states no official decision has been made.
- Jun 9, 2026The referendum is formally announced.
Sources: Noblesville Schools board meeting minutes · Hamilton County Election Board
Why the numbers you've heard don't match
The district told Spanish-speaking voters this would cost $32 a year. Why does the official math say something else?
Outreach materials aimed at Spanish-speaking voters cited a cost of $32/year ($255 over eight years) for a $405,000 home. Applying the actual proposed rate of $0.57 per $100 to that same $405,000 home — the same deduction method the DLGF uses in its own certification, shown above — works out to roughly $1,108/year. That's not a rounding difference or a matter of interpretation; it's more than 30 times apart. Whichever number you were shown first, compare it against the certified calculation in Exhibit A before you vote.
"It's only about $2.30 a month" — is that true?
That figure comes from the pro-referendum campaign, which describes $0.59 per $100 as a "maximum allowable rate" working out to roughly $2.30/month for the average homeowner. The actual filed ballot rate is $0.57 per $100, and the Indiana DLGF's own certified calculation for the median home comes to $954.18/year — about $79.52 a month, not $2.30. This isn't our arithmetic; it's the state's certified figure. Compare the two claims side by side and decide which one matches the filed paperwork.
Isn't building debt paid from a separate pot of money?
No. "Debt Service" is a separate accounting fund, not a separate source of money — it's still funded by local property taxpayers, the same as Operations and the Referendum fund. See Exhibit C.
On the ballot November 3, 2026
Vote No.
However you feel about the schools, you deserve to weigh the district's own numbers — not just the ones on the flyer.