Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Editorial

A proposal will be on the November General Election ballot to remove the state's property tax.

On the surface this appears to be a good idea. After all, none of us like to pay taxes and being able to remove one seems like a blessing.

But, when one looks beneath the surface, there is a pool of problems lying in wait for all aspects of the state and its people.

First, this referendum will remove the property tax from Arkansas if the issue passes. Under the wording on the ballot, the General Assembly would be authorized to levy sales tax of up to + percent. This money would be distributed to the counties on the basis of population.

Half of the revenue generated from this tax would be dedicated to roads and bridges, with the rest to be used for other lawful public purposes.

The legislature could also pass an additional sales tax of up to 7/8 percent to be used for primary and secondary education.

Now comes the fun part. The voting public would be required to approve this tax by ballot.

Additionally, the public would be asked to continue passing these and other taxes every two years.

Again, on the front end this appears to be a wonderful idea. The people would be able to decide what their taxes would be every two years.

The down side, however, shows the devastation Arkansas and her people would suffer if this issue passes.

Money paid to the state in property taxes is used to fund the state's educational system. Each and every school district in Arkansas depends heavily on these funds.

A total of 40 percent of the state's school districts would cease to exist because they wouldn't have the necessary money for operation.

At the very least, there would be no more extracurricular activities for the students to participate in. Students would have nothing more than classes to attend during their academic careers.

This would mean no more athletics on the high school level, with many state-funded colleges most likely losing their athletic programs as well.

Educators say they wouldn't be able to provide the level of education currently required by state as school districts would have to cut their staffs by as much as a third.

Without a solid base of education, the state would have no means of attracting business and industry to locate in Arkansas.

This wouldn't matter much, because most economic development offices are funded in part through county money and these funds would no longer be available for recruitment.

And, along with losing economic development, the courthouse staffs would also see cuts. First on the chopping block would be the tax offices.

Under the wording of the ballot issue, those jobs would be obsolete as there would no longer be any assessments done nor taxes to collect.

Property taxes provide a large portion of most county budgets.

By law, counties are required to provide law enforcement and roads and bridges for those living in the counties. If this measure is passed, even providing proper protection with law enforcement and maintaining roads and bridges would be difficult in many areas of the state, and virtually impossible in others.

With schools being unable to provide students with a proper education, the students wouldn't be prepared to enter the work force, but there won't be many jobs left for them anyway.

No jobs translates into higher crime rates across the board. All areas of criminal activity would increase as people will do whatever they feel is necessary to survive.

A higher crime rate means more jail space is required, but the state can't build beds fast enough for prisoners sentenced to the penitentiary as it is. This has already resulted in a backlog of state prisoners in county jails across the state.

Remember, now, the good thing is we wouldn't be paying property taxes any more.

Of course, our property won't be worth much when we try and sell it because the economy will be so bad. Some, in fact, have said land values won't be worth half what the people paid for them.

Getting back to the topic of schools, those unable to repay their bonded indebtedness would see this debt fall to the state to pay. The state, in turn, will have to take money from the overall education budget to pay these loans, forcing more problems for school districts.

School districts also would be unable to float bond issues for upgrades. There would be no more expansions for the vast majority of districts in the state.

Of course, they won't have to worry about expanding as they will be losing students when families are forced to move out of state looking for jobs.

The money provided by the two new taxes allowed under the issue wouldn't be enough to cover expenses districts currently have at this time, or to continue operating the state as is now being done.

Additionally, with Arkansas legislative body only meeting every other year, the state would have to wait two years before being able to ask for additional funds through taxes, and could only get them then if the majority of the people voted for them.

Such an action would, in effect, bankrupt the state.

Services such as fire protection would be seriously hampered. County libraries would be forced to close across the state as they could no longer afford to remain open.

As bad of shape as the state's roads are currently in, they would be worse if this measure passes because there would be no money for the repair and maintenance they require.

When the General Assembly meets in 1999, it plans to look at removing the sales tax from food items.

However, if the property tax issue passes in November, the legislature will no longer be able to consider taking the tax off food, and this affects everyone in the state.

Property taxes are one of the more equitable means of taxation. Those who can afford to buy land pay taxes based on the value of the property in the area they are located in.

While this may not seem fair because of the difference in value across the state, it is. In Northwest Arkansas the property taxes are higher than in the delta because of the economic boom experienced in the northwest corner of the state.

The land values in the delta are much lower, but the unemployment rate in Southeast Arkansas consistently remains at or above 10 percent. The northwest sector's jobless rate is around 3 percent.

People go where the jobs are. This happens nationwide, and will if the property tax is removed from Arkansas. Arkansans will literally be forced to leave the Natural State because they can't afford to live where there are no jobs or opportunities.

We at the Picayune urge the voters in Prescott and Nevada County to vote against repealing the property tax when voting in November.

JOHN MILLER