Request By:
Honorable Frances Jones Mills
Secretary of State, and
Chairman, State Board of Elections
State Capitol
Frankfort, Kentucky
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General, Commonwealth of Kentucky
This is in response to your letter of March 10 requesting the Attorney General to furnish you with the form of the questions pertaining to the two constitutional amendments that are to be placed on the November 3 general election ballot. This request is made pursuant to KRS 118.415 (2).
Pursuant to Chapter 112 (House Bill 14) and Chapter 113 (House Bill 109) of the Acts of the 1980 General Assembly, two proposed amendments are to be submitted to the electorate at the general election to be held on November 3, 1981. Chapter 112 relates to the term of elected officials and amends Sections 71, 82, 93 and 99 of the Constitution. Chapter 113 relates to property taxation and amends Section 170 and adds Section 172B of the Constitution.
In accordance with the mandate of KRS 118.415 (2) the Attorney General is required to state the substance of the proposed constitutional amendments to be submitted to the voters at the coming November election in the form of questions and must certify the ballot questions to the State Board of Elections for inclusion upon the November ballot.
The wording of the constitutional amendments that are to be certified by the State Board of Elections to the various clerks not less than fifty (50) days before the election for placement on the November 3, 1981 ballot is as follows:
Constitutional Amendment No. 1
Shall Sections 71, 82, 93 and 99 of the Constitution be amended to provide; (1) that the governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, auditor of public accounts, secretary of state, commissioner of agriculture, labor and statistics, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, and register of the land office shall be eligible to election for two (2) successive terms and shall be ineligible to re-election for the succeeding four (4) years after the expiration of the second term for which they shall have been elected; (2) that the sheriff shall be eligible to election for successive terms.
Constitutional Amendment No. 2
Shall Section 170 of the Constitution be amended and Section 172B be added to the Constitution notwithstanding contrary provisions of Sections 170, 171, 172 or 174 of the Constitution, to provide; (1) that real property maintained as the permanent residence of the owner who is classified as totally disabled under a program authorized or administered by any agency of the United States government or by the railroad retirement system, be exempt from taxation up to the assessed valuation of sixty-five hundred dollars on said residence and contiguous real property, except for assessment for special benefits; provided the property owner received disability payments pursuant to such disability classification, has maintained such disability classification for the entirety of the particular taxation period, and has filed with the appropriate local assessor by December 31 of the taxation period, on forms provided therefor, a signed statement indicating continuing disability as provided herein made under penalty of perjury; (2) that the General Assembly may provide by general law that county, municipal and urban-county governing bodies may declare property assessment or reassessment moratoriums for qualifying units of real property to encourage the repair, rehabilitation, or restoration of existing improvements thereon; however, prior to the enactment of any moratorium program, the General Assembly shall provide or direct the local governing authority to provide property qualification standards for participation in the program and a duration limitation on the moratorium not to extend beyond five years for any particular unit of real property and improvements thereon.
Certificate
Honorable Frances Jones MillsSecretary of State, andChairman, State Board of Elections State CapitolFrankfort, Kentucky
Pursuant to the provisions of KRS 118.415 (2), I hereby certify that the above questions contain the substance of the proposed amendments to the Constitution enacted by the 1980 General Assembly in Chapter 112 (House Bill 14) and Chapter 113 (House Bill 109) that are to be submitted to the electorate for their ratification or rejection at the General Election to be held on November 3, 1981.
This the 30 day of March, 1981.