WL school board aims at renewed property tax referendum, hires PR firm to help
School board told to expect lower margins at the polls than in previous referendums, a confusing time of selling a larger tax rate this time. Plus, WL closes in on new student transfer policy.
The task of selling a renewed property tax referendum to voters in the West Lafayette school district by Election Day in November will be considerably more difficult than it was in 2023, when yes votes to a similar question about paying extra to support the school corporation topped 80%, marketing consultants hired Monday night told the school board.
Jeff Dehler – the head of Dehler PR, the same firm West Side brought in for the referendum campaign three years ago – said the district will face the prospects of making a case to a larger likely voter base during a midterm election, while proposing an increased property tax rate for the first time since the first referendum went through in 2010.
Layer onto that any fallout from a new student transfer policy the school board is wrestling with after changes in state law scrambled its current arrangement – Close the district? Open things to a lottery? – and hopes to settle at its March 9 meeting.
“Would you expect 80% voting yes for a referendum in a general election?” Dehler told school board members Monday night. “Probably not – probably a lot smaller. Now, am I worried about West Lafayette? I’m not too worried, because this is a community that has shown its support over many elections – 2010, ’17, ’23 – with great levels of support. … But you have a story to tell. We want to make sure people hear that story about how things have changed.”
GEARING UP FOR A RENEWED REFERENDUM: The school board hasn’t officially signed off on sending a renewed referendum to voters in November. But on Monday, the board unanimously agreed to hire Dehler PR to guide a marketing campaign. The contract called for spending no more than $53,000. Dehler told board members that an overall campaign – including his recommendation for independent polling in the district – would total closer to $100,000 before things were done.
