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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA suburban Indianapolis school district where a 13-year-old girl and a teacher were shot in May plans to ask voters to approve more taxes to improve security.
Noblesville Schools announced Tuesday that it wants to expand its operating referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot. The measure, if approved, would bring in an additional $50 million over the next eight years, The Indianapolis Star reported. It would double the amount of taxes paid under the current referendum in most cases.
The money would be used to employ more school resource officers, safety staff and mental health counseling staff, and to recruit and keep teachers.
Ella Whistler and teacher Jason Seaman were shot May 25. A 13-year-old student is accused of opening fire in Seaman's classroom at Noblesville West Middle School.
The boy is charged as a juvenile in the attack.
The district is asking for the existing 2016 referendum rate of 18.9 cents per $100 of a home's assessed value to be raised to 37 cents. The rate would be in place through 2026.
For district residents who own a home with a gross assessed value of $200,000, annual taxes would rise from about $185 annually under the current referendum to about $362, according to a calculator on a website from backers of the referendum.
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