School business official to advertise $4.6M maximum levy after staffing warning

At a public budget hearing, Mr. Dennis, speaking for Lebanon Community School Corporation, said the district will advertise a maximum operating levy of $4,600,000 on the Form 3 notice to taxpayers after new staffing information prompted caution. The board had previously discussed voluntarily setting the levy at $4,500,000.

The change matters because the Form 3 advertisement establishes the maximum amount the district may levy; Mr. Dennis said the board retains the ability to keep the levy at $4,500,000 during the statutory 1782 process in December. He said rising caseloads for speech‑language pathologists at two schools prompted staff to propose adding $100,000 to the operating referendum levy “in case the need should present itself in the next four months before the budget is certified.”

Mr. Dennis told the board that state law requires the district to hold a budget hearing and to publish the Form 3 notice; he said notice of the meeting was published on Sept. 3. He described the Form 3 as the district’s only opportunity at this stage to set maximums for budget funds and levy amounts and said adjustments can still be made during the December 1782 process.

No patrons signed up to speak on the 2026 budget at the hearing and the board closed the budget hearing without taking a levy vote. The district’s advertised maximum therefore will list $4,600,000; Mr. Dennis said the board can still opt to certify a lower levy at the December process.

The hearing did not include a board vote on the levy; staff characterized the change as a precaution to preserve flexibility while new staffing needs are clarified.