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Steve Faris
LITTLE ROCK —When the General Assembly convenes in regular session in January, lawmakers will consider changes in how county equalization boards apply property reappraisals.
Equalization boards in the 75 counties in Arkansas may not be applying the law consistently because of confusion over some definitions in current law. At a legislative hearing in August lawmakers learned that sometimes after property owners win their appeals of higher reappraisals, the equalization board doesn't consistently go back and change appraisals on all other property that is "similarly situated." The problem is the lack of a legal definition of "similarly situated." A state senator asked the attorney general for a legal opinion on the matter, and the response was that the term is not adequately defined in current law. The release of the attorney general's opinion has prompted several legislators to pledge that they will propose a bill defining the term "similarly situated." After a clear definition is in the law books, equalization boards will be better able to apply consistent valuations to all "similarly situated" property in a county. The issue is of special interest in areas where real estate values have stagnated or declined. Individual landowners have appealed to the county equalization board and won, thereby having their property reappraisals lowered to a level more in line with current market values. Not every property owner takes the initiative of appealing to the equalization board. They may not be aware of their rights or they may fear that the process is too costly, for example. Whatever the reasons, their property taxes should not be higher than those levied on property that is similarly situated. Clarification of the specific meaning of "similarly situated" is meant to make the system more fair. Teacher Health Insurance Another issue in the regular session will be teacher health insurance. In the past decade Arkansas has made great strides in raising public teacher salaries. Last year Arkansas teacher salaries were ranked 32nd in the country, with an average salary being about $44,000 and starting salaries for teachers with a college degree being close to $29,000. According to teacher representatives, however, the rising cost of health insurance have eaten up a large portion of those salary increases. A survey found that Arkansas teachers pay an average of $7,415 a year for family health insurance and $1,365 a year for individual coverage. That is the amount the teacher is responsible for, apart from contributions by the school district. College Remedial Courses High school graduates who are academically unprepared for college courses must take remedial classes, for which they must pay but for which they don't get credit toward graduation. That means the added cost of remediation is a significant barrier in the way of their earning a college degree. A bill is being planned that would reimburse students for the cost of remedial classes at two-year colleges, at a rate of $100 per credit hour. (State Sen. Steve Faris writes a periodic column)
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