House panel advances property tax measure

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Feb 15, 2002 by Marie Price The Journal Record

A measure approved Thursday by the state House Rules Committee would limit property tax increases to one percentage point above the previous year's taxes, with higher increases subject to a public vote of county commissioners or a vote of the people.

House Joint Resolution 1048, by Rep. Russ Roach, D-Tulsa, committee chair, would itself be placed on a statewide ballot as a constitutional amendment. Roach said that he considered adopting some sort of indexed increase as the limit, but chose 1 percent for simplicity.

"The people should have the right to participate in tax increases," said Roach.

Rep. Ron Langmacher, D-Carnegie, said that such a low limit on tax hikes could prevent some counties from being able to keep up with inflation. However, Roach said that nothing in the measure would preclude counties from benefiting from ad valorem tax growth revenue as property values increase.

Roach said that his intention is to help people like his elderly neighbor, whose property taxes have increased from $184 in 1984 to $1,700 last year, although the neighbor's fixed income has not kept pace.

A similar measure was approved in Washington state by initiative petition, Roach noted.

The joint resolution was amended to require approval only by a majority of those voting, not a majority of eligible county voters.

Rep. Bill Graves, R-OKC, gained approval of his House Bill 1146, a holdover measure from last session.

The bill requires that the names of candidates on the general election ballot be rotated so that the names of all candidates appear in each position an equal number of times.

Graves said that the measure complies with a lawsuit he brought several years ago which resulted in the Oklahoma Supreme Court throwing out a state law requiring that the names of Democratic candidates come first on the ballot. Since that time, party positions have been rotated on the ballot by a drawing method.

"I feel like I have died and gone to heaven," Graves said of the success of his measure.

Generally, Graves' bills do not fare as well in the rules committee, whose veteran members handle constitutional amendments and many of the more controversial issues that come before the Legislature.

"It hasn't passed the Senate yet," quipped Roach.

Committee members also passed an amended version of House Bill 2772, by Rep. Sue Tibbs, R-Tulsa, and Rep. Fred Perry, R-Tulsa, which requires that voters present either a picture ID or sign an affidavit as to their identification prior to casting a vote.

Perry amended the bill to make the affidavit requirement permissive rather than mandatory. He also removed language making the provisional affidavit-backed votes counted only if an election is contested and a recount is held.

Tibbs added language exempting individuals with physical limitations from the picture ID requirement.

Rep. Jari Askins, D-Duncan, explained House Joint Resolution 1036, by House Speaker Larry Adair, D-Stilwell, a constitutional amendment that would change the expenditure authority of the Board of Investors of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust fund.

Currently, the board can spend only annual earnings on the fund. Under the proposal, Askins said, the board could spend up to 5.5 percent of the average market value of the fund. The investor board would set the actual amount to be expended each year.

Askins said that the measure was being offered at the request of State Treasurer Robert Butkin.