Amendments on ballot Tuesday

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November 1, 2009

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By Janet Jacobs

Tuesday is election day, but election officials aren’t gearing up for a heavy turnout like last November. Typical turnout for a state constitutional amendment election is one or two percent of the eligible voters, according to Danda Parker, Navarro County Election Administrator.

By Friday afternoon, the last day of early voting, only 240 voters had casts ballots in Navarro County, she said.

On the ballot are the following proposed amendments:

• Proposition 1: Allowing cities to buy open spaces next to military installations for future utility or military needs, and allows the cities to use property taxes to pay off the debt.

• Proposition 2: Prevents appraisal districts from judging a residential property based on what it could be as a commercial development, rather than on what it is.

• Proposition 3: Provides for uniform standards of property appraisals.

• Proposition 4: Establishes a national research fund to help universities achieve national standings using the higher education fund money.

• Proposition 5: Allows for a single appraisal review board when adjoining appraisal districts want to consolidate reviews.

• Proposition 6: Allows Veterans Land Board to borrow money in order to sell land and provide mortgage loans to Texas veterans.

Proposition 7: Allows officers in the Texas State Guard to hold civil offices.

Proposition 8: Allows the state to contribute money, property and other resources to establish, maintain and operation of veterans hospitals in Texas.

Proposition 9: Protecting the rights of the public to access and use public beaches on the gulf.

Proposition 10: Terms for elected board members of emergency service districts can’t exceed four years.

Proposition 11: Limits the seizing of private property, or imminent domain, from being used for economic development or private projects, but does allow it if the project is intended for public ownership or to eliminate urban blight.

Perhaps the only amendment that has sparked controversy is Proposition 2, which became the target of a viral e-mail campaign. The e-mail was “blatantly false,” according to Rep. John Otto, who wrote the bill.

“I don’t know who started it, but it’s a complete fabrication and lie about what the amendments do,” Otto said.

The e-mail claims that Proposition 2 would allow the State of Texas to start taxing people’s homes. Actually, Proposition 2 began as a way to protect homeowners from unfair increases in appraisals, Otto said. It prevents appraisal districts from taxing people based on what their home would be worth if it were a commercial development.

For example, a home next to a new shopping mall wouldn’t be appraised based on the house’s value, but on what the land would be worth if it were also a mall. Otto said one Arlington homeowner’s appraisal went from $157,000 in 2007, to $360,000 in 2008 because a new commercial development went in nearby.

“What Proposition 2 says is a residential homestead must be appraised on its use as a residence, not on its highest and best use,” Otto said. “Currently, the law says you have to use highest and best use.”

“It’s clearly not a state property tax on residences,” Otto said. “Our constitutional prohibits that. This is merely trying to be fair to some homeowners.”

Proposition 3 would require appraisal districts to follow the same rules statewide, and gives the state the ability to go in and force them to comply, he explained.

“If everyone’s happy and think their appraisal districts are doing their jobs, then they don’t’ need to vote for this amendment,” he said. “But if not, somebody has to give (the state) authority to come in and fix that problem.”

The state does reviews of the local appraisal districts, and penalizes school districts if the values are off, but the state doesn’t have direct authority over local appraisal districts now.

“Nobody’s looking at how they arrived at those values,” Otto said. “There’s no oversight on appraisal districts currently. Local boards are the sole control.”

Early voting on the constitutional amendments began Monday. Other amendments deal with borrowing by the veterans land board, and access to public beaches.

Voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at regular precincts, Parker said.

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