Indiana § 20-46-8-3 - Transportation levy component; levy appeal

§ 20-46-8-3. Transportation levy component; levy appeal

Sec. 3. (a) This section applies to property tax levies imposed before January 1, 2026.

(b) Subject to subsection (c), a school corporation may appeal to the department of local government finance under IC 6-1.1-19 to increase the school corporation's maximum permissible operations fund levy. The appeal must be filed with the department of local government finance before October 20 of the year before the increase is proposed to take effect. To be granted an increase by the department of local government finance, the school corporation must establish that the increase is necessary because of either or both of the following:

(1) A cost increase of at least ten percent (10%) over the preceding year for at least one (1) of the following:

(A) A fuel expense increase.

(B) A cost increase due to an increase in the number of students enrolled in the school corporation who need transportation or an increase in the mileage traveled by the school corporation's buses compared with the previous year.

(C) A cost increase due to an increase in the number of students enrolled in special education who need transportation or an increase in the mileage traveled by the school corporation's buses due to students enrolled in special education as compared with the previous year.

(D) Increased transportation operating costs due to compliance with a court ordered desegregation plan.

(E) A cost increase due to the closure of a school building within the school corporation that results in a significant increase in the distances that students must be transported to attend another school building.

(F) A cost increase due to restructuring or redesigning transportation services due to a need for additional, expanded, consolidated, or modified routes.

(G) A labor cost increase due to a labor shortage affecting the school corporation's ability to hire qualified transportation employees.

To obtain the increase, the school corporation must establish that it will be unable to provide transportation services without an increase.

(2) A cost increase associated with the school corporation's bus replacement plan adopted or amended under IC 20-40-18-9 (after December 31, 2018). To obtain the increase, the school corporation must show that the school corporation must incur reasonable and necessary expenses to acquire additional buses under the plan.

The department of local government finance may grant a levy increase that is less than the increase requested by the school corporation. If the department of local government finance determines that a permanent increase in the maximum permissible levy is necessary, the increase granted under this section shall be added to the school corporation's maximum permissible operations fund levy as provided in section 1 of this chapter.

(c) This subsection applies to a school corporation whose budget for the upcoming year is subject to review by a fiscal body under IC 6-1.1-17-20. A school corporation described in this subsection may not submit an appeal under this section unless the school corporation receives approval from the fiscal body to submit the appeal.

(d) This section expires December 31, 2026.

As added by P.L.244-2017, SEC.106. Amended by P.L.140-2018, SEC.23; P.L.159-2020, SEC.65; P.L.156-2024, SEC.29; P.L.68-2025, SEC.224.