Thirty-four people were elected to the Board of Directors of the State Chamber and 39 others to the AIA Board during balloting recently conducted by mail. In a unanimous ruling issued Oct. 15, the state Supreme Court removed the proposal from consideration in the Nov. 3 election because of invalid signatures on petitions. That's welcome news since the amendment would have been devastating to the state and placed immediate hardship on schools and libraries. Certainly, there are Arkansans who are frustrated about property taxes, but this reckless proposal wasn't the answer. However, property tax reform is an issue that many, including Governor Mike Huckabee, feel must be addressed in the upcoming legislative session so this amendment won't be back in two years.
Property taxes are unfair and too complex.
The appropriate response is not for us to celebrate the Supreme Court's ruling, but to address these very legitimate concerns by passing real reforms in a bipartisan fashion. It is a proposed amendment to the Arkansas Constitution that would require only a 60 percent vote of both houses to raise many taxes instead of the 75 percent we now have. The easiest way to explain this bill is that if it passes, we will have made it easier for the legislature to raise our personal and corporate income taxes. This means you could bring home less money and state government could take away even more. Certainly, we don't support making it easier to raise taxes in Arkansas.