By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
With many people in the area considering a run at public office during the May primary election, those interested have just over a month to make up their minds.
According to the 2004 election calendar, the filing period for the May 18 preferential primary election will open at noon on Tuesday, March 16. The filing period will be open to party candidates running for office in the primary election and for nonpartisan judicial candidates. The filing period will be open for 14 days, closing at noon on March 30.
Independent candidates planning to run in the November general election may begin collecting petitions earlier in the month of March, beginning on Thursday, March 4. This excludes individuals seeking municipal offices.
The election calendar also outlines the final days for registering to vote in the primary election. According to the calendar, voters must be registered to vote 31 days before the preferential primary election. The deadline for those interested in registering to vote in the primary is Sunday, April 18.
Early voting for the May election can begin on May 3, with the primary election taking place on Tuesday, May 18, with polls being open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The Forrest City School District will be among those that will see a millage increase if a new law is passed by voters statewide in November.
Act 89, was passed during the recently-ended special session of the Arkansas Legislature. If approved by the people in the November general election, it would increase the minimum required school millage for maintenance and operation from 25 to 28 mills.
According to a story in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the outcome of the election for any district will depend not on how voters in that district voted, but upon the statewide results.
Forrest City Superintendent Lee Vent said this morning that he hasn't yet had a chance to discuss the possible ramifications of the vote with school board members.
"It will be a statewide referendum, it's another attempt to raise revenue for schools," he said. "Right now, we meet the law, with 25 mills for maintenance and operation. Should the measure pass, it would increase to 28."
He said the school district had to do a lot of refinancing of bonds in order to meet the 25 mill minimum.
It has been figured that for a home valued at $50,000, a 3 mill property tax increase would be $30; for a $100,000 home, the increase would be $60.
There are 308 school districts in the state, and about 90 percent of them would see property tax increases if Act 89 passes. Exceptions are school districts which are being administratively consolidated under Act 60 of 2004. Those district will not have their millage rates changed until there is an election for the new or receiving district.
It has been estimated that the millage increase would raise an additional $85.2 million for school districts. However, it would probably be less than that, because the estimate was based on a 3 mill increase of all 308 school districts. Some 31 districts are already at 28 mills for maintenance and operation.
According to the Democrat-Gazette article, if passed, the earliest the property tax increase could be collected would be 2005, on taxes assessed this year.
Opposition is expected. In the 1998 and 2000 election cycles, sponsors gathered more than enough signatures to get a constitutional amendment scrapping property taxes on the ballot. Both times, the Arkansas Supreme Court knocked the proposal off the ballot because of wording problems or questions about the validity of signatures.
Some superintendents in districts where voters have rejected millage increases also are skeptical the 3-mill increase will pass.
''Good luck,'' said Leslie Superintendent John Gray.
Gray said the Searcy County Quorum Court last month voted to increase Leslie's maintenance and operation millage from 14.2 to the minimum of 25 because voters wouldn't.
Gray noted that the Legislature also passed a sales tax increase and extended the sales tax to several other services.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
Wheatley residents may soon be faced with higher water bills.
Wheatley Mayor Larry Nash recently told councilmen that officials with the city of Brinkley, from which Wheatley purchases two to three million gallons of water per month, are expected to hold a final vote on water rates Tuesday.
"It looks to me like they are proposing a 40 percent increase in their water rate," said Nash. "They haven't done it yet, but on Tuesday, I expect they will. I don't know if the rate increase will be over a year, five years or what. I also don't know how the increase will affect us. We buy our water from them wholesale, and I haven't heard what they are planning to do with the wholesale rates. We will have a better idea next month (after the Brinkley City Council meeting), and we can decide on any rate increases in the city then."
Councilmen also discussed pay raises for city employees. Last month, the council tabled the issue, citing decreased tax revenue for the city. Nash, while not suggesting a raise in the budget, said if he were to suggest a raise for them, it would be a 2 or 2 1/2 percent raise. Nash told councilmen that after trying to figure in the raise, the city still could not balance its books at the end of the year.
"I still don't see how we can give raises," stated Nash. "We tried moving things around, but we are still $500 short of what we were last year. We can't have the general fund moving backwards like that. My thinking is that we wait until the end of the year and give them an extra bonus if we can." No action was taken on the matter.
In other news, a Wheatley disaster meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 6:30 p.m. at the Wheatley Civic Center. During the meeting, Wheatley's role in the county-wide disaster drill, scheduled to take place in early spring, will be discussed.