Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Props 4, 1 Discussed

Clark County Judge Grady Runyan and State Rep. Percy Malone agree on the importance of proposed Amendment 1.

This issue, should it pass at the Nov. 3 General Election, would allow counties and cities to enter into short term lease-purchase agreements not exceeding five years.

It also limits the percentage of general funds these entities can dedicate to the agreements.

The two talked of Amendments 1 and 4 at a recent meeting of the Clark County Industrial Council.

Runyan said proposed Amendment 4 has people scared because they aren't familiar with it.

Prop 4, he said, would abolish real and property taxes in Arkansas, and those owing taxes at the time of its passage would be forgiven for their debts. The people elected and hired to assess and collect these taxes would find themselves unemployed as well because the proposal calls for these offices to be closed.

Runyan said the Association of Arkansas Counties is opposed to prop 4 as well.

Under the plan, should it even reach the ballot, property taxes would be wiped out and replaced with a 1 3/8 percent sales tax. Of this, seven-eights of the money would be used for primary and secondary education, with the remaining half-cent going to cities and counties.

However, this money wouldn't be enough to replace what school districts would lose from property tax collection. In Gurdon, the schools would lose $834,455, which would close the school.

A total of $7.8 million owed in property and real taxes would be wiped off the slate, Runyan said.

Losing this money, he continued, would make it difficult if not impossible to operate city and county governments.

He urged everyone to vote against prop 4.

On the other hand, Runyan favored proposition 1, saying it would allow the county to buy equipment and pay interest on the loans.

Currently, it is against the law for a city or county in Arkansas to obligate general funds for more than one year at a time. This means much needed equipment often isn't purchased, while older equipment is repaired or jury rigged to be made work.

Should prop 1 pass, cities and counties could enter into short term lease/purchase agreements and pay interest on the purchases.

Malone agreed on both counts.

Discussing prop 4, he said, it allows communities to pass additional taxes, which come back for passage every two years. But, even if communities pass these taxes, collection won't start for at least six months later. "It would be horrible," he said.

Prop 4, Malone continued, would cripple the education system in Arkansas, removing all local control of school districts, putting the control in the state's hands.

On Amendment 1, he said, the general assembly wanted to address this issue before now, but other problems cropped up requiring the legislature's attention.

This measure will save cities and counties money over the life equipment purchased.