Consultant warns Senate Bill 1 will shrink West Lafayette's tax base; board discusses rerunning referendum in 2026

Mike Reuter, a consultant retained by the district, told the West Lafayette Community School Corporation board on Nov. 10 that sweeping changes in the 2025 state legislative package known as Senate Bill 1 will materially erode the district's property-tax base and force choices about whether to rerun the referendum.

"It was probably one of the most difficult legislative sessions that I had ever experienced," Reuter said, describing a package that inserts a homestead credit and expands other deductions that will take effect beginning in 2026. He said the changes include a phase-in that increases the supplemental homestead deduction to 66.7% by 2031 and adds a rental-property deduction rising from 6% in 2026 to 33.3% by 2031. Reuter also noted the business personal-property reporting floor will jump to $2,000,000 in 2027, removing many small filers from the tax roll.

Reuter showed the…