Nov. 3—GOSHEN — A nearly decade-old property tax levy for Concord Community Schools will cease after the end of the year as the result of a tight Election Day contest for the district.
The majority of voters in Tuesday's special election cast ballots opposing a question of extending an existing increase in property taxes on homes and businesses. The unofficial results came down to 51.29% of votes against and 48.71% of votes for the extension.
The proposal on the ballot called for allowing a tax levy that was approved by voters in 2014 to continue for another eight years, though at a lower rate. Had it succeeded, the levy would've gone down from its current 40.5 cents per $100 of net assessed valuation to 32 cents — a reduction of about 20%.
The levy was passed in 2014 in order to bring additional dollars into the school corporation as a way to offset losses from property tax caps that had gone into the state constitution in 2010, as well as changes from the student funding formula and the effects of the Great Recession. The proposed levy extension was aimed at still bringing in additional funding, but at a lower rate while still maintaining educational programming.
School administrators will examine how the district will adapt to the tax levy's discontinuation.
"While we were hoping for a different outcome today, we must always plan for all possible outcomes," Concord Superintendent Dan Funston said in a statement after the election. "As such, we will not make any immediate staffing cuts or adjustments to student programming. If cuts have to be made, it may cause our class sizes to be larger than normal."
Funston thanked supporters for as he described the type of effect the school system now faces.
"The referendum funds account for 10% of our overall budget, so this will certainly have a negative impact on our funding going forward," he said in the statement. "We will continue to weigh every decision the way we always have — by asking ourselves 'what's best for kids?'"
Had the extension passed, Concord's spending plan estimated collecting about $4.6 million annually from the levy. At the same time, the district had lost about $25.8 million since 2013 due to property tax caps, Funston said in August. Another $27.1 million was projected to be lost over the next seven years.
Dave and Linda Peterson of Dunlap were among those who voted against the extension. They didn't view an additional eight years of the levy as necessary.
"We don't need more taxes," Dave Peterson said Tuesday.