The Indian River School District will wait until 2028 to ask the voters for a tax increase, although a motion to go to the voters in January 2027 almost passes.
At its August meeting, the district’s Finance Director, Christopher Parker presented the Board of Education with two options - hold a referendum next January, or postpone it until early 2028. Parker said that drastic budget cuts last year have put the district in a more secure financial position.
“We're in a little better spot than we were before,” he said. “We're not where we want to be, obviously, but we're in a little better spot than we were before.”
With that, and the possibility of being able to bring back 20 teacher positions cut due to austerity, Parker counseled holding off on a referendum next year.
“I think that gives our community additional time,” Parker said. “It gives us additional time to communicate and reach out to them.”
The need to prepare voters for a referendum and make the case for supporting it was a significant consideration for Board of Education President Mark Steele. He also expressed the hope that more time would let currently volatile economic conditions settle down.
“My thought would be if we went in [20]28, that gives us the opportunity to reach all these communities,” he said. “It also gives us a chance for everything to kind of calm down a little bit.”
Not every board member was convinced however. Gerald Peden noted that waiting another year would give the district less time to prepare for uncertainty if conditions don’t work out as projected, or if the referendum fails.
“What if we don't pass the referendum?” he asked. “If we don't pass it in option one, we can react sooner than later, whether it's more cuts or whatever we have to do gives us more time to plan.”
Peden’s concern is grounded in recent history. The district sought a referendum in March 2025, which failed with some 53% of voters opposing it. A second attempt in June 2025 also failed, by a slightly larger margin. Peden, however, expressed optimism that a referendum would pass this time around.
Board members seemed split on whether to move ahead with a referendum sooner or later. A motion to schedule the vote for January 2027 got a majority of votes, but fell one vote short of the six needed to pass. Board members then voted unanimously to postpone a referendum until early 2028.
