I received my 2021 property tax bill and was puzzled by a $324.46 item. After calling three county departments, I was told this related to the 2020 school referendum, though no one could explain how or on what basis this was calculated.
The school board in its proposal provided calculators which appeared to indicate the impact on property taxes would be a very nominal annual increase. The actual individual costs included in the 2021 tax bills appear to be far higher than those communicated, and the taxpayers appear to have been duped. The school board appears to have, at a minimum, put out misleading information as to the individual taxpayer cost of the referendum. South Bend city government was complicit in this by strongly supporting this initiative.