Noblesville taxpayers kept their end of the deal

By CODY WHITE
Guest Columnist

I’m a Noblesville resident, a homeowner, and the state director of Americans for Prosperity–Indiana. On Nov. 3, I will vote no on the property tax referendum on our ballot.

A lot has been said about my team and this referendum over the last few weeks. Some of it deserves a direct response.

Let’s start with the claim that Americans for Prosperity-Indiana is some “out-of-state” group coming into Noblesville.

I live here. I own a home here, pay property taxes here, and currently pay the referendum tax we’re debating. The volunteers knocking on doors and making phone calls with us include dozens of Noblesville residents who have just as much at stake in this referendum as anyone else.

People are welcome to disagree with us. But we are part of this community, too. Let’s argue about the tax itself.

Supporters describe the proposed property tax levy in terms of how much more taxpayers would pay compared with the current levy.

There is just one inconvenient detail: The current referendum levy expires Dec. 31.

Noblesville taxpayers agreed in 2018 to pay that levy for eight years. We did. An eight-year tax doesn’t magically become permanent when those eight years are up.

If the new referendum fails, taxpayers aren’t skipping out on a bill. The tax voters approved in 2018 will have reached its scheduled expiration.

The ballot authorizes a maximum rate of 57 cents per $100 of assessed value, allowing the district to collect up to $43.8 million annually. At that maximum rate, the state-approved ballot language estimates an annual increase of $955 for a median-value home.

The school board has a committed to a 38.5-cent rate in 2027 and limiting annual increases to 4 cents. But voters are being asked to authorize a maximum rate of 57 cents.

When I vote, I won’t rely on the promises of local elected officials. I’ll look at what the ballot actually authorizes.

The school board knew for eight years exactly when the current referendum levy would expire. Eight years is plenty of notice. Yet the district now relies on those temporary referendum dollars to fund ongoing expenses, and taxpayers are being warned of significant consequences if they don’t authorize another.

That’s not something Indianapolis did to Noblesville. It reflects decisions made here about how to budget referendum revenue and what would happen when the levy expired.

The school board members aren’t the only local elected officials whose choices deserve scrutiny.

Mayor Chris Jensen is publicly campaigning for the referendum. He has argued that strong schools are an investment in Noblesville and that the additional cost to taxpayers is relatively small.

But Mayor Jensen has championed major taxpayer-backed investments of his own, including the new $93 million Riverview Health Arena at Innovation Mile.

The money used to finance the arena isn’t simply interchangeable with school funding. But taxpayers don’t experience local government one taxing unit at a time. They experience the cumulative cost.

Mayor Jensen thinks the arena is a great investment, and he is welcome to defend it. He thinks this referendum is a good investment, too. Voters are entitled to look at all of those choices when local leaders ask families to pay more.

Good leaders plan ahead. They don’t build budgets around taxes everyone knows expire.

Noblesville taxpayers kept our end of the 2018 deal.

Local government should have planned for theirs.

Cody White is a Noblesville resident and homeowner, and he serves as the State Director of Americans for Prosperity–Indiana.