Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Next Tuesday's Ballot Still Has Four Amendments

Arkansas voters will be asked to decide on four constitutional amendments, along with one initiated act at the Nov. 7 General Election.

The proposed initiated act deals with how the state spends its share of the tobacco settlement suit.

It proposes to create programs to address tobacco-related health issues. But this isn't all.

It also proposed to address targeted state needs, such as establishing the Arkansas School of Public Health, opening an area health education center in Helena to serve counties in the region and providing education in preventative care, early diagnosis and treatment for the elderly to health care professionals.

It would also fund the Minority Health Care Commission and establish a state bioscience institute.

The duties of the institute would be to conduct agricultural research with medical implications, bioengineering research to expand genetic knowledge and possible new application in agri-medical fields, along with other health-related applications.

However, it would also create its own bureaucracy in the Tobacco Settlement Commission. The commission's duties would be to oversee the spending of the settlement funds, making sure they are used for health-related programs.

Money from the settlement would be placed in the Tobacco Settlement Cash Holding Fund.

Proposed Amendment 1, also on the ballot, would allow, if passed, cities and counties to enter into short-term financing for equipment.

This means cities and counties could enter into lease agreements and lease-purchase plans up to five years to buy necessary equipment.

It would also allow cities and counties to more effectively deal with unsightly and unkempt areas, providing bond money to refurbish them.

But, cities and counties wouldn't be able to spend their resources blindly. Caps have been set on how much either entity could spend.

For cities, this amount is 5 percent of the assessed value of taxable property within the city limits. Counties have a 2.5 percent ceiling.

Amendment 2 is the controversial property tax measure.

Should it be approved by voters, it would limit the amount assessments could be raised in a given year and provide a credit up to $300 against the ad valorem taxes on homes.

The assessment limit would be 5 percent, unless substantial improvements had been made to a house. This limit is raised to 10 percent unless, again, substantial improvements have been made.

However, the rules change with newly discovered property or cases where the aforementioned substantial improvements have been made.

The assessments on those residents 65 or older and disabled would be frozen at the lower assessed value as of Jan. 1, 2001, or a later assessment.

The reduction of property taxes would cause Act 1492 of 1999 to kick in automatically. This act would raise the state's sales tax by = cent to replace the money lost from lowering property taxes.

Amendment 3 will let voters decide whether judges should run on preferential party tickets or not.

The idea is to allow judicial candidates to seek office as independents instead of having to declare party affiliation as a Democrat or Republican.

It also merges the Arkansas court systems and allows prosecuting attorneys to spend four years in office after being elected.

One problem with this amendment is the General Assembly would have the authority to establish jurisdictions and venues for all courts, while creating the new judicial circuits and districts, along with the number of judges on the bench.

Proposed Amendment 5 gives the people the chance to vote on a gambling issue.

Should it pass, a state lottery would be created, and charitable bingo and raffles would be legal.

Additionally, six casinos would be allowed to operate in the state. They would be located in Sebastian, Pulaski, Garland, Miller, Crittenden and Boone counties.

The measure would also create the Arkansas Educational Trust Fund and the Arkansas Gaming Commission.

The commission would oversee the casinos, making sure they were being ran properly, while the educational trust fund would set money aside to help students further their educational careers after high school with grant monies.

In fact, 50 percent of the lottery money would be used for prized, with 45 percent going to the educational trust fund. The remaining 5 percent would be for administrative costs and lottery expenses.