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

(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.

Legislative History

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.