Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Amendment 4 Abolished From November Ballot

MIKE ROSS

STATE SENATOR, DISTRICT 3

The Arkansas Supreme Court has struck from the November ballot proposed constitutional Amendment 4 to abolish property taxes.

Three proposed amendments referred by the legislature will be on ballots, as will a referendum to authorize the state to issue bonds for soil and water projects.

Proposed Amendment 1 would allow city and county governments to enter lease agreements and lease-purchase agreements for up to five years. Now, they must pay cash for police cars, fire trucks, ambulances and road building vehicles such as Bulldozers. Supporters of the measure say it would allow cities and counties to more efficiently budget for major equipment purchases.

Proposed Amendment 2 would make uniform the number of votes required for passage of tax increases by the General Assembly. Now, under the state Constitution, it takes a simple majority of more than 50 percent of the House and Senate to raise the state sales tax. It takes an extraordinary majority of 75 percent of each chamber to increase income taxes and other levies. Amendment 2 would require a majority vote of 60 percent of the House and Senate for increases in all taxes.

Proposed Amendment 3 would allow retired judges to hear cases. Also, it would allow more flexibility in appointing substitutes in the event a judge must step down because of a conflict of interest.

Voters will decide another ballot issue an act to authorize the state Soil and Water Conservation Commission to issue bonds for water and drainage projects, pollution control, flood control and other projects.

Amendment 4, which was stricken by the Supreme Court, may appear on some ballots that already had been printed before the court's ruling. However, any votes cast for or against the measure will not be counted.

The court ruled that supporters of Amendment 4 lacked sufficient signatures on their petitions. The state Constitution allows citizens to place a proposed amendment on general election ballots if they submit signatures representing 10 percent of the number of people who voted in the most recent gubernatorial election. That figure was about 72,000 this year. The petitions must be signed by registered voters.

Supporters of Amendment 4 submitted slightly more than 72,000 signatures. Opponents of the amendment filed a legal challenge, resulting in the Supreme Court appointment of a special master to scrutinize the validity of the signatures. More than 1,800 were found to be improper, leaving supporters with too few signatures. The Supreme Court, in a unanimous 7 to 0 decision, struck the proposal.

The court's rulings focused attention to two important issues. In response to the support for Amendment 4, many legislators and the governor have pledged to seek property tax relief in the 1999 legislative session. They have said that their proposals would not completely repeal property taxes, because schools rely so heavily on revenues from property taxes.

The other issue arises when the Supreme Court strikes a ballot proposal in the final days before an election because of a legal challenge. The eleventh hour rulings create frustration and anger among citizens who have spent much time and money working to get a measure on the ballot. Legislators wrote a proposal in 1995 to streamline the initiative process and allow for an earlier judicial review of signatures and ballot titles. However, voters defeated the proposal in the 1996 election.