Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Financing By Cities, Counties On November 7 Ballot

Arkansas voters will be asked to decide on whether or not cities and counties in the state should be allowed to enter short-term financing in making needed purchases.

This will be addressed as Proposed Constitutional Amendment 1 on the Nov. 7, General Election ballot.

Under the proposals of this amendment, cities and counties would be able to make purchases, lease or lease-to-purchase deals on equipment or property.

It also gives cities and counties in the state what is called "redevelopment bond authority" to refurbish blighted or unkempt areas.

Or, in a nutshell, cities and counties would be better able to clean up areas where houses are dilapidated and land is overgrown with weeds.

The idea is to prevent the spread of slums or deteriorated or deteriorating buildings and/or areas as such places discourage commerce, industry and employment.

However, under the proposed amendment, a redevelopment district could only be created after a city or county analyzed its individual needs and determined an area should be redeveloped.

The approval of such districts will be made by city councils and quorum courts.

On the short-term financing end of the proposal, local governments could only enter into agreements of five years duration. Currently, cities can't enter into any agreement longer than 12 months.

The amendment also caps the interest rate of every agreement at a level either at or below the maximum lawful rate the amendment sets forth, which is 5 percent above a rounded up U.S. Treasury bond yield.

The total amount a city can spend in such agreements shall not exceed 5 percent of the assessed value of taxable property within the city limits.

For counties, this amount will be 2.5 percent.

There is opposition to this amendment, with the opponents claiming it will lead to deficit spending in cities and counties.

Those favoring it say it won't raise taxes, will make local governments more efficient and can help redevelop run down neighborhoods and areas.

Should it be approved by the voters, it would become effective Jan. 1, 2001.